Naruto: The New Keyblade Master
by Dragon and Sword Master
Summary: Sora feels a great darkness through his bones, but knows that he cannot be able to stop it. Therefore, the great Keyblade Master of the Light finds an apprentice: Naruto. Taken from Bill Alain with permission. Naruto/Yugito/Sakura. Good Kyuubi.
1. Sora File 01

* * *

Dragon and Sword Master: The great author, in real life and here, has decided to stop writing in order to work on his real stories, which if they are published, I will definitely buy.

Yugito: You really should buy them!

Dragon and Sword Master: Yuu-chan, what did I say about interrupting me?

Yugito: Sorry…

Dragon and Sword Master: Its okay koneko-chan. *ruffles her hair lightly, causing her to hiss lightly as she fixes it* Anyways, Bill Alain has given me his permission to take his story and finish it, adding a few changes to it along the way.

Yugito: and one of the changes is having me in the story?

Dragon and Sword Master: …maybe. Now then, I would usually not worry about a disclaimer since I have one in my bio that SHOULD cover for all my stories, but Mr. Alain came up with a good one so…

Kingdom Hearts belongs to Disney and Square Enix and Naruto is Kishimoto-sama's, which leaves me with……Nothing…damn.

* * *

Naruto: The Next Keyblade Master  
Sora File 1: The Apprentice

An old man walked down the large hallway, his ebony cane clacking against the stone floor._ Clack, clack, clack._ He could feel it in his bones; darkness was coming to the worlds again, but this time, it was far beyond his reach._ Clack, clack, clack._ He stopped and looked out the window that he ambled towards. It was bright outside, the sun was shining, the hedges were nicely trimmed, and he saw his grandson playing with one of his life-long friends.

Another old man approached the old man at the window, his silver-white hair behind him. He was also wearing one of the royal robes of the castle and as soon as he was close enough, he bowed.

"How many times do I have to tell you, you don't have to do that?" The man with the cane said, causing the man bowing to chuckle lightly, responding that it was because he wanted to, causing the older male to sigh lightly, and chuckling at the antics of his old rival-turned-friend.

"There is a reason I was looking for you old friend," Riku said as he stood up, causing Sora to look away from his grandson and towards his friend with a curious look, also adapting a serious look to his face as his friend spoke.

"How is the portal coming along?"

"It is nearly complete; it will take only an hour or two before its finished, maybe a little more."

"Excellent," was all he said as he turned away from the old man.

* * *

He was running, again. Just like yesterday, and the day before that. Running was the only way he could keep himself alive, especially since the mob chasing him were always in the dozens. Ducking into an alley close to his apartment, he found an unlocked door before heading inside, waiting for a few minutes to catch his breath and see if they were following him. Seeing that they weren't, he slumped to the floor and started breathing heavily. _That was too close for comfort…why do they want to hurt me so much? I haven't done anything to them…_he thought to himself as he slowly made his way to his apartment. Opening the door, he went inside before turning around and closing it, making sure to lock it _not that it would matter…_he thought bitterly to himself as he headed towards the shower, cold as always. As he was heading to bed, he suddenly found himself staring at a man wearing a black cloak, an ebony cane in his hands. For several seconds, they both just stared at each other, several things going through the boy's head.

_Who is he?_

_What is he doing here? _

_Is he here as a friend…or as a foe?_

Finally, the man spoke, it was a soft voice, and sounded very gentle, and very wise, "What is your name?"

The boy looked at him, confusion written all over his face. "My name is Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto," he said as the man slowly nodded. "And your name is…?" he asked, leaving the question open-ended so that the man could answer.

The man removed the hood on his cloak, revealing grey, spiky hair, along with a kind face. "Sora. My name is Sora."

Naruto stared at him. "Nope, never heard of you," he said as Sora chuckled lightly at Naruto's actions. Calming the boy down, he asked Naruto to sit down. As he did so, Sora sighed.

"It's not surprising that you haven't heard of me. You see, I am from a different world," Sora said as he paused and looked at Naruto. Naruto looked back at Sora as if he grew a second head. Sora recognized that…or at least his darkness, Roxas, knew that look. Nevertheless, the look of disbelief was on Naruto's face. "Here…I think it would be easier for me to show you rather than tell you," Sora said as he placed his fingers on Naruto's head. As he did so, a light emanated from his fingertips and was what entered into the boy's head.

Seconds passed as Naruto watched the Keyblade Master's life pass before his eyes. Several heartless, Nobodies, Kairi, Roxas, Ansem, Riku, Donald, Goofy, among many others, passed before Naruto's eyes before he came back to the present. The last thing he saw in his vision was the fact that Sora was looking for an apprentice, someone to take up the fight against darkness. When he was done, Naruto bowed to the man hastily, "L-l-lord Sora, you have the wrong person. There's no way I could wield a Keyblade…I-I'm just scum. The villager's punching bag as well as the outcast of this village. I'm not…not worthy of an honor such as this…" he said as Sora hushed him and asked him to pick himself up off the floor. An apprentice never bowed to his master now did he?

"I did not choose you for your status young Naruto; rather, I chose you for your heart. Now then…sleep. Everything will be explained in more detail there," Sora said as Naruto looked at him oddly before Sora sighed and placed the same finger that he did before on his head, the old man disappearing as Naruto's body hit the bed, his mind already somewhere else completely.

* * *

"-your eyes, damnit; open your eyes Naruto." Sora shouted as Naruto slowly opened his eyes.

"What happened?" Naruto asked as he shakily stood up, taking in the surroundings before his eyes went back to Sora, who looked as if someone reversed time for him, not only making him look younger, but also in black clothes. _The magical clothes made by the Fairy Godmothers' after Castle Oblivion. _Naruto thought to himself, before looking down at the glass window pane of a girl with a simple summer dress on.

"I don't know to tell you the truth. However, before you ask where we are, this is the inside of the Heart, a place where only Keyblade Masters and starting Keyblade Masters can enter. This place helps them start the path…the path of a lifetime," Sora explained as Naruto listened.

After Sora was done explaining, three pedestals rose from the ground. As Sora faded from view, so that Naruto could make the decision alone, he offered Naruto one piece of advice:

_Choose Wisely Young Naruto…_

_What did he mean?_ Naruto thought to himself, the memories of when Sora went through this didn't help Naruto out much either, especially since this scene from Sora's memory was fuzzy at best. Going over to the first pedestal, a plain white sword laid on top of it. As he picked it up, a powerful and prideful voice entered his mind.

_This is The Gift of the Warrior. Choosing a power such as this will make your offense your top priority. Your strength shall be unsurpassed. Is this gift going to be your greatest asset?_ It asked before Naruto placed it back on the pedestal, signifying that he hadn't chosen it. Sora did say to choose carefully, after all.

Moving over to the shield, which had a golden background with a pale yellow in the middle, Naruto carefully picked it up, as another voice entered his mind; this one a proud and dedicated person.

_This is the Gift of the Guardian. Those who choose this as their shining quality will be able to withstand a lot of pain; you would be able to defend your friends and loved ones with ease. Do you want this to be your greatest attribute?_ The voice asked before Naruto put the shield back on its resting place.

The last choice was a rod, a blue and purple stick with three circles on the top of it, the smaller circles making the center one seem as if they were attached to make them look like ears. Picking the rod up, Naruto heard an energetic voice enter his mind.

_This is the power of the mystics! Your abilities in the magical field would be unstoppable and no one would be able to get past your great spell-casting abilities! Pick me; you know you want to…_It said as Naruto chuckled lightly to himself as he put the rod back down on the pedestal from which it came from.

_Hm…Each choice sounds ideal to me…almost as if I have to make one stronger than the others…but which should I choose? They all sound like great choices…_Naruto thought to himself, sitting down on the glass. _I know Lord Sora picked the sword as his shining attribute, and it does sound quite tempting, and with the battles I will most likely be in, the Sword sounds like the right choice; however, the Shield sounds a lot like something I would do, protect everyone at the cost of myself. There's also the Rod and its magic, which sounds a lot like ninjutsu…gah, all these decisions…_Naruto thought to himself before finally coming to a decision.

Moving to the shield once again, he took it off of its pedestal before hearing the voice again. After doing so, he wasn't sure if this was right, but he said yes. After doing so, a neutral voice sounded all around him, telling him to pick one of the remaining items; this would be his weakness. Knowing that he would need his strength for the coming events and battles, he moved over to the Rod, quickly picking it up and confirming that magic would become his weakness, silently hoping that his jutsus wouldn't be affected by this choice.

Once done, the pedestals disappeared and the glass floor suddenly broke underneath him. He landed on a second platform, this one having a different girl, and she, too, was in a beautiful dress. Suddenly, a heartless appeared. It was only a Shadow heartless, but still. "This will test your abilities at fighting," Sora said as Naruto charged the Shadow and dispatched him quickly, ramming his shield into the heartless before cutting it in half with the pointed half of the shield. After he did this, the floor below him broke into shards of crystal and light.

The new floor had a pattern of diamond and other shapes on it in a pattern on the outside perimeter, but in the middle was a cage and in the middle of that cage was a piece of paper with the kanji for seal on it. Behind the cage were two red eyes, pulsing with energy and a row of teeth. At this, Sora reappeared and looked at the cage in awe. "That's new…" he spoke aloud as the eyes turned to him immediately.

**Who are you? And what in the blazes are you doing here?!**

"I'm Naru—"

**Not you; I know who you are, Uzumaki Naruto. I was talking to the person beside you.**

"I am Sora. One of the many Keyblade Masters, and I am here to train my apprentice," Sora said as the eyes in front of them widened as the voice repeated what Sora said.

**Keyblade Master?**

"Ah, so you have heard of the Keyblade before, haven't you?" He asked as the two eyes moved up and down, indicating that this 'thing' was nodding in the affirmative.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, as the red eyes looked at the boy. "You said you know who I am, but who the heck are you?" he asked as the eyes closed for a moment before reopening them. Once he did, the eyes looked at him in pity…or was it guilt? Slowly, the eyes headed closer to the cage, revealing a fox with orange-red fur.

**I am the reason why everyone hates you. I am the Kyuubi no Yoko, sealed into your body when you were just a babe.**

"What?! That's impossible…the Yondaime Hokage killed you and died in the process!"

**That…is what society wants you to think. Besides, someone as strong as me couldn't be killed. After all, I **_**am**_** a Keyblade Master**. Total silence fell over the trio before Sora finally broke it by asking one very important question:

"If you are a Keyblade Master, then why not unlock this seal that binds you?"

**If I did that, the boy would die within an instant! I'm the only reason he stands before you now! My powers give him a faster regeneration rate, and without it, he would die within an instant; correction, would already be dead.**

"Now that I'm making him my successor…why don't you leave now? He'll be able to protect himself once we're done here." he said as the Kyuubi shook his head.

**If you are training him, then he is still not ready. I mean no offense, Keyblade Master Sora, but sometimes training alone cannot help. Two heads are better than one after all…and my kit will most likely get caught in over his head and need some help in the future.**

"Wait a second, when did I become 'your kit?'"Naruto asked as Kyuubi explained that when he was sealed within him, the Kyuubi somewhat adopted him as his own. Sighing at that, Naruto just shrugged and agreed to it; seeing that it was better than an annoying bastard stuck in you after all. As he was thinking this, several stairs materialized to the left of Naruto, and at the end of that was another door.

"Naruto, take those stairs and go through the door, into the final room and to your final challenge. I would like to talk to my fellow Keyblade Master," Sora said as Naruto started to shake his head, before realizing how futile it was and trudged up the stairs to where his final battle would take place. As he opened the door and went through it, the door closed and disappeared, along with Naruto.

Sora turned back around to face Kyuubi. "Now then, you and I have much to discuss about our apprentice…" He said as the fox agreed.

* * *

Naruto appeared in front of a circular platform, several smaller heartless surrounded the boy. Those weren't what scared him, the thing that scared Naruto the most was the enormous pillar of darkness in the middle. As it grew and expanded the fear in Naruto's heart started to make itself known. It stood half as tall as the Hokage tower, and had a huge heart-shaped hole in its chest. However, he quickly squashed his fear when the name of this particular heartless came to his mind through Sora's memories.

_Darkside…_

Trying to reach for more information, he found out that it was blocked by Sora. _It makes sense after all…this wouldn't be a challenge if I knew all the answers_ he mused to himself before one of the smaller Shadows jumped at him, causing him to react and bring the shield to take the impact of the blow. Shifting his position, he drove the end of the shield into the Shadow, causing it to dissolve into nothingness. Darkside thrust his hand down towards the place that Naruto stood just a few minutes ago. Rolling out of the way, Naruto saw the pool of dark energy on the platform; he waited to see what it would do. However, all it did was create more of the smaller Shadows as he brought his hand back.

Naruto quickly dispensed the minions before Darkside once again brought his hand down to smother the boy. Naruto did a back-flip and before the great being of darkness could do anything else, Naruto jumped onto the hand and headed up to it. If it was possible, the shield on his arm would have emitted sparks. As he reached the head, Naruto swiped his shield at him. After that, all he could see was Sora looking at him again, wearing the cloak and leaning on his cane once again.

"You did well my boy," Sora grinned at Naruto's confused look. "Darkside is one of the many Heartless that dwell within a Keyblade User or a Keyblade Master's heart. Now that you have vanquished him, I want you to summon your Keyblade." Sora said as Naruto asked him how to do that. "Reach into your heart, and find the power," he said as Naruto thought on it before closing his eyes and looking into himself. Once he did that, he felt his chakra and something else. Focusing not on his chakra but the other thing that he felt, and started pulling on it and soon, a small orb of light appeared in his hand and before long, that orb extended into what looked like a blade; the Kingdom Key Keyblade appeared within Naruto's hand.

"Yatta, I did it!" Naruto grinned excitedly as he pumped the air with his fist.

Chuckling at his antics, Sora pulled out a cloak identical to the one he was wearing except for one thing: its size. Handing it over to the youth, Naruto stopped his antics. "This is a gift for excelling my expectations young apprentice. This cloak will grow as you grow, and it is very stealthy. I realize that stealth is very important to your culture, so this should help. I also have a mission for you: Darkness is coming, but it is still far off, so prepare yourself. Find your Kairi; find your Riku, because it will be your friends that save you first. Good-bye my student, Kyuubi will teach you everything else you need to know," then Sora faded away, disappearing as if he was never there.

Naruto replaced his Keyblade in the realm of his heart, and put on his new cloak. It looked just like the one Master Sora wore. After making sure his cloak was secure, Naruto came out of his room; it was rather funny, he went in as a five-year-old boy with five years of experience, but came out as a five-year-old with seventy-nine years of experience.

* * *

A cloaked figure walked into the Academy room, and everyone looked at him with curiosity in their eyes as he sat down in one of the empty seats near the back. Several thoughts were roaming through the classroom, but the questions that the class was thinking were these:

_Who was this guy?_

_Where did he get that cloak?_

_Why did he carry himself like that?_

It was true, the boy in the cloak carried himself with the experience of a man who had lived his life, but this boy could be no older than five. Iruka stood up and did roll-call a few seconds after the mysterious boy came in.

"Sakura?"

"Here." The pink haired girl cried out.

"Shikamaru?" Silence, "Shikamaru?"

"How troublesome…"

That was good enough, "Hinata?"

"H-h-here."

Iruka went through the list and finally he came upon the last name.

"Naruto Uzumaki?" He said and all that greeted him was silence. It was odd since usually Naruto would stand up and loudly acclaim that he was here, almost as loud as Sakura could be. When no answer/shout came from the male blonde…

"The dobe didn't show up." Sauske, the aloof Uchiha said.

"Then perhaps you need glasses, teme." The cloaked figure said.

Everyone looked at him. "N-n-Naruto?" Hinata whispered to herself.

"Because I am here." The figure removed his hood, showing the spiky blond hair, the whisker marks on his cheeks, and the azure eyes.

Iruka slapped his head. "Then you should know not to wear your hood up during class."

"But Iruka-sensei! It makes me look cool!"

"No buts."

"But."

"No."

"Aww."

* * *

  
Dragon and Sword Master: And the opening chapter comes to a close. Now then, I have decided on a Kairi; however, *puts a flameproof shield up* it will not be Hinata. Now then, while I have nothing against Hinata, I just don't think I am capable of writing Hinata in a believable fashion.

Yugito: So, who is going to be Kairi?

Dragon and Sword Master: I'm getting to that actually. Nevertheless though, I want to notify that while Bill had Naruto pick the sword (for future battles) I picked the shield (because Naruto is first and foremost a protector)

Yugito: *waits patiently for him to tell her and the fans who Kairi will be*

Dragon and Sword Master: now onto the matter of Kairi…I'm looking at her.

Yugito: …wait, you mean me?

Dragon and Sword Master: *grins, nodding before getting glomped and kissed* Thank you!

Amber: Yuu-chan, stop kissing my boyfriend.

Yugito: *blushing* Sorry Amber-chan…


	2. Naruto File 01

Dragon and Sword Master: Sorry for taking so long between updates ladies and gents (and any flamers too) but school comes first. I need to concentrate on my studies otherwise...bad things will happen, let's leave it at that.

Naruto: More like his laptop will be taken away, again, like last semester when he dropped a class.

Dragon and Sword Master: That's it, I'm banning ramen.

Naruto: EH?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Dragon and Sword Master: Anyways, onto some other news: I am glad that not many people are saddened about the fact that Hinata will not be appearing in this story and not play the Kairi role as in the original.

Naruto: Un-ban my ramen, NOW!

Dragon and Sword Master: Let me think about that…no. *eats a bowl of Shrimp Ramen in front of him and then drinks down the broth* ah…that was good. Anyways, before I get to the chapter, I have one anonymous review to respond to.

Sasuke Hater: While I can understand your hatred of Sasuke, this story, or any of my other stories, will not bash any characters. I think that character bashing, in general, degrades a story and also sort of ruins it for me. While I don't like Sasuke as a character, I will not bash him, or Sakura for that matter, but that's a whole difference story.

I'm sorry if this ruins the story for you.

Special Notice: thank you both DarKazeura and Uzumaki No Zetsumi for adding this story to their respective favorite story lists.

* * *

Naruto the New Keyblade Master  
Naruto File 01: Graduation

True to his word, the Kyuubi trained Naruto ever since Sora left them five years ago. However, he only trained at night so as to keep it a secret, as well as to keep any potential Naruto fan clubs from forming. Eventually he would reveal it, but that would only be if the darkness rose again. The reason was that when the darkness rose, Kyuubi and Naruto would need anything that he could get, including the element of surprise. Besides, deceiving the populace was what a shinobi did best. Since Naruto chose the power of magic as his weakness, Kyuubi was making sure that he was working on it, more so than his other techniques.

Naruto was currently working on Reflega, a powerful spell that reflects all attacks back at the attacker and it was draining, doing it over and over again. Naruto took out a bottle, bit down on the cork, spat it out, and downed the bottle in a flash. Picking himself back up, he began the spell again; his magical reserves back to max thanks to the Ether. "Reflega!" the barrier was instantly thrown up. Naruto took a kunai out of his pouch, and threw it at a trap he had set to simulate an enemy throwing a weapon. A kunai that had been a part of the trap flew toward him. As soon as it hit the barrier, it bounced back, hitting the tree where he set up the trap. Grinning at this, he finally got the last defensive spell down.

**Good, now that you have the last defensive spell down, it's time for you to work on offense. I know that Blizzard spell is giving you trouble…**Kyuubi said from Naruto's mindscape. Before Naruto's awakening, the place was similar to a sewer. Afterwards…it was like in the dream he had when he was tested; the platform with the Lilac on it.

Yes Kyuubi-sensei. He finished as he exited the mindscape and returned back to the physical plane. Naruto then focused on his magical energy instead of his chakra before making sure that it was clear, and after a few moments, he opened his eyes and thrust his Keyblade out, "Blizzard!" was all that he shouted as a shot of cold energy meekly going out of the Keyblade and traveling a few feet before shortening out.

**It still needs work, again!**

This went on until Naruto started to tire out, and seeing how it wasn't safe to drink several magic potions at once, sat down on the ground below him.

**Not bad kit. If I didn't see it myself, I would have thought you picked magic as your strength and something else as your weakness. Now then, go ahead and get some sleep. If I remember correctly, you have a test tomorrow.**

"Yeah, yeah, don't remind me." Naruto said as he let the Keyblade fade back into his heart; however, before he could walk out of the training grounds, he heard a twig break in the distance. Instantly on guard, he recalled his Keyblade to his hand as it appeared in a flash of light.

"Who's there?!" he shouted as he prepared for an attack, but when no one showed up, Naruto got suspicious. Carefully heading across the grounds, he slipped into the forest that surrounded the clearing. However, when he got to the spot, no one was there. All he saw was some purple hair on a tree branch nearby.

Who ever it was must have made a mistake…he thought to himself before hearing another branch break, along with a lot of cursing.

"Alright, who ever is out there, stop hiding!" he yelled, starting to growl as he ran towards the location once again. After three hours of this happening, Naruto growled one last time, his body demanding sleep. Debating on whether to search one more time or not, Naruto heard another snap close by. Turning around, he brought his Keyblade around in a wide swing, luckily smacking the person who was sneaking around.

Finally!

Before the person could do anything else, he quickly cast Stop and went to investigate the person that was watching him. Holding a fire spell at the top of his Keyblade, he created a small amount of light and was surprised to see that the person watching him was a woman.

**Um kit?** Kyuubi asked as Naruto gave his teacher his attention.

_Yes?_

**If you want to continue living, leave a note explaining what happened.**

_Why?_

**Ever heard of the Snake Mistress Anko, Psycho Kunoichi of Konoha?**

_Somewhat, why?_

**This woman is her. **Kyuubi said as Naruto started panicking just a bit. If he left a note then it wasn't sure if she would tell his secrets to the world or not. The demon brat with something as powerful as a Keyblade…yeah, that wouldn't go over well. Jiji would have to do something then, either exile him, kill him, or even worse, make him into a living weapon.

I hate saying this, but perhaps dispelling Stop is better…I can explain everything to her he thought before he sighed and kept an eye on her as he carefully dispelled the magic that kept her in place and before he could do anything, he was pinned to the ground and Anko was on top of him, a kunai in her hand.

"You have five seconds to tell me why I shouldn't castrate you," she said as he nervously chuckled.

"Four"

"You were watching me lady, not the other way around. Not my fault you were caught. Now please, get off and I'll explain everything but you have to promise me two things."

"What are those two things gaki?"

"First, get off me. Second, can you put that kunai away? I promise that if you still want to use it afterwards then I won't stop you." He said as she did what he asked him to do and giving him a look that told him to either explain or be painfully tortured by the best female interrogator in Konoha.

"Alright, the story starts five years ago while I was running from a mob once again…," he started as Anko frowned, but let him continue his story well into the night. His story was complex and a little hard to believe, but then again, there wasn't a genjutsu or ninjutsu in the world that stopped your body for any amount of time, plus there was his unique weapon…and he knew about the Kyuubi.

"That's a lot to take in gaki, but I believe you, and I'll keep all of this a secret. Now then, how about I make a bullshit excuse so that you can play hooky tomorrow?" Anko asked as Naruto looked at her as if she grew a second head.

"You can do that?!" he exclaimed as she laughed, explaining that she had Iruka wrapped around her little finger.

* * *

As Naruto slept, several things were going on in Konoha that dealt with him. One thing was a letter sent by Anko explaining that Naruto asked her to do some extra curricular training and as such, she accidentally went too far, and while he wasn't in the hospital, he wouldn't be able to attend class today.

Iruka sighed, knowing that Anko would do something like that, even if the boy hadn't asked for training…wait a second, Anko never trained anyone, period. Unless…he sighed as he placed the letter back on his desk.

One thing was certain: Uzumaki Naruto was definitely someone who could change just about anyone. Sighing once again, he put the letter back down on his desk as students filed in to start the day. As people came in, they noticed that the loud-mouth idiot wasn't around. When asked, Iruka explained that someone had given him some extra training and went a little overboard.

The class laughed at this for a few moments before being silenced by Iruka's jutsu and a small amount of killing intent. "Let me ask you all a question: When you left here yesterday, what exactly did you do? Did you do your homework and practice the katas that Mizuki-sensei gave you or did you slack off and forget about it? Naruto may be many things, but one thing he is not is a slacker. I hope all of you remember that," was all that he said as he looked at the class, a few guilty looks hidden amongst the crowd.

* * *

Halfway across town, an eccentric purple-haired Jounin was heading towards the Hokage Tower, everyone in front of her moved out of her way, knowing that anyone who didn't would not like the consequences.

_Being me definitely has its advantages,_ she thought to herself before entering and heading up the stairs before stopping for a few moments. If the old man was going to allow this, or even think of doing this, she needed to be respectful, an unusual thing for someone such as her.

Stepping foot into the tower, Anko glanced around for a few moments before heading up the staircase and towards the Hokage's office. She kept to the staircase and did not bother with looking into the several offices that were underneath the Hokage, creating and organizing the paperwork that he needed to sign. This was why she would never be a Hokage, an apprentice to the Hokage, or a Hokage's Aide. Resisting the urge to glare at the receptionist, she asked her to check if the Hokage was busy.

The door opened as soon as Sarutobi sensed Anko coming to the door. He knew that she wanted something and if she was being civil with his receptionist then he knew it was something she desperately wanted. "How can I help you Anko-chan?"

"I want Naruto as my apprentice old man," she said, slipping back into her usual self.

"Oh? If I remember correctly, you swore that you would never take an apprentice since the incident at Umi no Kuni (Sea Country). What caused the change of heart Anko-chan?"

"Because the gaki (brat) deserves someone who will teach him fairly and not stifle his growth because of what he has inside of him. He also has this interesting power and weapon, but I'm not entirely sure what it is." Anko said as Sarutobi looked at her for a few minutes, gauging her on what she said.

"I'll do it, on one condition Anko-chan; I want you to be his Jounin-sensei if he graduates, which means the team that he's on as well."

"Hm…fine, I'll do it. Kami-sama better have mercy on anyone who's teamed with him though, because I definitely won't," she started as she saw the warning look in the old man's eyes. "Don't worry, I won't kill them, honest."

"Don't forget, that's only if he graduates. I have been told by both Mizuki-sensei and Iruka-sensei that Naruto is at the bottom of his class, but I also know that he and Sakura-chan are very close friends. I also promised Naruto that if he got a B average then I would pair him with Sakura."

"Then perhaps I should get to know both this Sakura and the gaki. Thanks old man," she said as Sarutobi chuckled lightly, then again, Anko was one of the only two he allowed to call him as such. Sighing, he wished the best of luck to Naruto, Sakura and whoever their third member would be before going back to his paperwork.

* * *

Naruto awoke with a sneeze. A sneeze and a sense of dread fell over him as a knock on the door woke him up. He tried to ignore it and rolled over to try and get some more sleep, but the knocking only got louder and more consistent. Sighing, he got up and put on some clothes so that he wouldn't embarrass himself. Opening the door, he saw Sakura standing there in her usual outfit.

"Did you sleep in because of your training again Naru-kun? Jeez, if it wasn't for me then you would be so behind," Sakura said, sighing as he invited her into his apartment. She was the only person who knew both of Naruto's secrets: he was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko as well as one of the three Keyblade Masters.

_Flashback_

Sakura was having trouble sleeping. It wasn't because she was afraid of anything or nervous, but her mind wouldn't stop organizing all the facts in her head. She tried calming herself down and for a few minutes it worked but then a random thought came in and all her knowledge came back to haunt her and keep her awake.

Sighing, she headed to the window and looked at the stars dotting the night sky…_Wait, what was that?!_ She thought to herself as she saw something explode in the night sky. Curiosity getting the better of her, she went to her closet and got some clothes on before opening her window and jumping to the tree branch nearby before shimmying down the tree. She saw another explosion going off, but this time it wasn't as far up in the sky, but it was still explosive and created something akin to a large explosive note going off.

Once she got near to the forest, she started hearing curses, and followed the voice to find a boy in black cargo shorts with a black tee-shirt that had yellow stripes crossing diagonally. He was also holding something in his hand, but she wasn't sure what the weapon was. Moving closer, she accidentally stepped on a dry tree branch weathered by age and time. As such, the loud crack that alerted the boy to her presence was alarmingly quick.

"Who's there?!" He shouted as Sakura wanted to make herself invisible against the foliage around her, but she knew that she couldn't, especially since she realized that the boy was in fact Naruto, the blonde hair being a dead giveaway. Then again, her hair color put her in the same boat as him.

"Naruto?" she asked as he slowly dispelled the weapon in a small band of light.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing out here this late?" He asked as she made his way towards him. He was trying not to jump in joy that Sakura-chan was here alone with him, almost as if it was a date, but Kyuubi-sensei kept him in check.

"I could ask you the same thing Naru-baka!" she yelled, making him wince slightly. However, she then noticed the weary look on him and the amount of damage done to the area around him. As she was about to ask what he was doing, he told her that he was training.

"Why does it have to be so late at night?" She asked as he started opening his mouth, but his voice was so soft with self-doubt that she wasn't sure if she heard him correctly or not. When asked to repeat himself, he said something along the lines of "that the dead-last couldn't possibly be learning anything new and advanced," to which she bopped him on the head for being so melodramatic.

"Come on Naruto, tell me. Please?" She asked, using the one thing that no male could resist: Puppy-dog eyes. She only added to the look after a few minutes by sniffling lightly and tears coming to the corners of her eyes.

**It's safe to tell her.** The fox said before grinning. The next few words from the fox caused the boy to blush from his teasing; **besides, she could possibly be your Kairi.**

_What?!_

**Just tell her. Besides, it would be better if one of your peers knew about everything so that you don't have to keep your secrets to yourself.**

_Alright…if you're wrong though…_he left it blank as he closed his thoughts off to his sensei, the only thing he could grasp from the boy's thoughts were something along the line of him running from something. All he saw was a ton of males. At this, the fox shuddered lightly. Only one thought was crossing his mind:

**How the hell does he come up with these things?**

"Sakura-chan…if I tell you what I'm doing here…will you promise to keep it a secret?" He asked; the seriousness in his voice scared her to a small degree, especially since she never saw or heard him ever act serious…or without a smile.

_How did I not notice this before?_ She thought to herself before nodding her consent, promising to keep whatever she said between them now a secret between the two of them. After making sure that she wasn't deceiving him, Naruto started telling her everything about Sora and everything relating to the previous Keyblade Master of the Light.

_End flashback_

"well…sorta. I met this old hag when I was finishing up training, and she found out about the Keyblade and I had to use stop, and explain things about the Keyblade."

"Do I have to hit you for doing something that stupid?!"

"Sakura-chan, you don't understand, it was the snake-lady, Anko. She gave me the options of being castrated or telling her what she wanted to know. I'd rather not be castrated, even if no one in their right mind would want to date me."

"You know what castrated means? I'm impressed. But didn't you say when you explained everything about Sora and the Kyuubi that you wanted to attract as little attention to yourself as possible? You told Hokage-sama because you trusted him…"

"And because Jiji needed to know. I'm not stupid, I just act like it," he said, which Sakura just sighed at the fact that he would never call the Hokage 'Hokage-sama' or the like.

"Could have fooled me. Anyways, Iruka-sensei said that you could make up the test tomorrow when you come back from school provided that you don't pull any pranks today, so I'm here…"

"To help me study, and keep me from screwing up."

"Right"

"You don't have to be so forward about it…" Naruto whined lightly as Sakura giggled at his antics as he took out some of his notes and got help from Sakura. The day passed quickly for both of them as they sat in Naruto's apartment.

* * *

Naruto looked at Mizuki with a look of surprise and shock. He knew that Sakura prepared him for everything that was on the test and made sure to study…so why had he failed? Keeping the test so that he could check the answers later, but for some reason he knew those answers were correct…sighing, he left it for later as the day went by.

"Why am I not surprised?" Naruto mumbled to himself as he looked over his notes and the test that he returned. Sighing once again, he placed the test down. _Dealing with Mizuki is starting to become a hassle…oh well; he's only helping me in the long run. It's just a few months before graduation now and then I don't have to deal with him._ He thought to himself before heading home.

**Don't worry about it kit.**

_But if I don't get a passing grade and graduate, I won't get on the same team with Sakura-chan. Jiji promised if I passed with a B average that he would team me and Sakura up._

* * *

Time passed as Naruto and his class got closer to their day of graduation. Soon, it was the day before their graduation and the two teachers looked at their class with pride and joy crossing their faces.

Since Mizuki was at home sick, it was left to Iruka to supervise the last day before exams, and the review session for each exam. Sakura was listening intensely to him, curious as to where her blonde male friend was. If he did something stupid again…she thought to herself before a mysterious shinobi came through the door, the vest she was wearing signifying her as a Jounin. Her interest piqued, she subtly channels chakra to the tenketsu in her ears and listens, growling at what she hears.

"Iruka-san, the Hokage needs your help. It's Naruto…" at this, she sighed and stopped channeling chakra. Baka, he'll never graduate at this rate…she thought to herself as Iruka hastily told them to read something before heading out, his intent on catching Naruto.

Several minutes later, Iruka came back in with a scowl on his face with a tied up Naruto, coming in behind him, pulled into the classroom by their teacher. Sakura sat up intrigued. Not often was it that Iruka brought in Naruto like that…he must have done something extremely stupid to warrant this humiliation.

"Alright everyone, listen up! Since young Naruto here thinks it's a good idea to goof off and put graffiti all over the Hokage Mountain, we're going to have a quick review. Everyone got up front and in a line, we're going to review one of the three ninjutsu that you have to have mastered by tomorrow: the Henge no Jutsu."

"What?!" half of the class shouted out, Sakura just shaking her head, not believing that he could be so stupid. After she got up into the line, she waited her turn before doing a perfect Henge into Iruka. Getting back in the line, she waited for Naruto's name to be called, just knowing that he would pull another prank on his teacher to get him back for capturing and humiliating him before.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you're up. I want you to do a perfect Henge of me or Mizuki-sensei and then you can go back in line." Naruto nodded at this, right before giving his infamous prankster's grin and channeled chakra before transforming. When the smoke cleared, a teenage girl with blonde hair in a style of pigtails, naked as a baby; smoke covering her breasts and her private parts. Iruka's eyes bugged out before some blood came out of his nose.

"What do you think sensei? I call it the Oiruke no Jutsu (Sexy Technique)" he said, grinning like a fox as he returned to normal. Iruka sighed and shook his head, wiping the blood from his nose away, trying not to pass out from the shock.

"While that was a good Henge, it wasn't what I asked for. I asked for you to transform into either myself or Mizuki-sensei. You need to listen to your instructions clearly next time Naruto; otherwise you won't be able to graduate. Understand?"

"…I understand."

"Alright, as long as you understand Naruto-kun," Iruka responds as Naruto nods and heads back to his place in line. Ino went next and created a perfect clone of Iruka…well almost perfect clone, she forgot the scar across the bridge of his nose. "Very good Ino-chan, but you forgot one important detail, my scar." He said as Ino corrected her mistake before ending the technique.

As she was passing Naruto, Ino asked him why he had to make the whole class suffer for his prank, especially on the last day of classes. Naruto shrugged his shoulders, just saying that it was practice for later. After Ino went, Iruka said that they could go home, all except Naruto.

"Sensei…is Naruto-kun being punished for what he did earlier?" Sakura asked as Iruka nodded.

"He defaced the Hokage Monument Sakura-chan. It wouldn't be right if he wasn't punished for defacing such a famous monument. He's going to clean up his mess. Why do you ask?"

"I…I was wondering if I could help." Sakura said as Iruka looked at her in thought before shrugging and decided to let her help.

"I don't see the harm in it…but why do you want to help him? This is his punishment, and you had no part in doing the crime," Iruka said a little confused, as he always was when she volunteered to help Naruto with his punishments, then again, sometimes she did help him think of some pranks and helped him create some scary pranks.

"Because if I knew he was going to do it, I would have helped." she said as Iruka sighed, knowing that he wouldn't stop the girl from helping Naruto. The two waited for him to lock the classroom door before he made them get 2 buckets and fill them with water.

* * *

"Well, that wasn't too bad, right Saku-chan?" Naruto asked as Sakura was lightly walking behind him, lightly grinning at herself after the both of them were treated to a bowl of ramen by their sensei. A few months ago, the tasks that Naruto did on a daily basis would make her pass out from fatigue. Now, not only was she helping him with planning his pranks, but also helping him with his punishments.

"I guess. Um…Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks…for everything."

"You don't have to thank me Saku-chan…I should be the one thanking you…for sticking with me through the thick and thin. You could have sold me out to the villagers,"

"But I didn't and I won't. Ever. Now come on, you said you wanted to get some last minute studying in before our graduation exams, and if you do your extra training with Kyu-sensei then so help me..." Sakura said, trying to lighten up the mood and make sure that he would get enough sleep afterwards. All the studying in the world wouldn't help Naruto if he slept through the exam.

Hours later, Naruto waited impatiently as Sakura finished grading the mock test she gave her. "Well…" he asked as she schooled her features and turned it around, only three answers crossed out of the ten questions she created.

"Not bad Naru-kun. If you do this well in the taijutsu and ninjutsu then you'll definitely graduate." Sakura said as Naruto grinned, glad that with Sakura's help he was able to completely get rid of his fear of paper tests.

"Hopefully it isn't the Bunshin no Jutsu…I still can't get that down, no matter what I've tried," Naruto said to which Sakura rose an eye at him. After hearing everything, it was odd that Naruto still couldn't get the Bunshin no Jutsu down.

"You still…"

"Not a bit," Naruto said, yawning lightly. "Anyways, I'm going to turn in for the night. Do you want to bunk here for the night or walk you home?"

"If you don't mind…can I bunk here?"

"Of course I don't mind Sakura-chan," Naruto said before getting some blankets and a pillow out of the closet. "You can take the bed, I'll take the couch," he said as Sakura blushed lightly at this. Sighing, she knew fighting it would be a losing battle seeing as that no matter what, her interests would come first.

"Thanks Naru-kun," Sakura murmured before heading to the bedroom. Taking a few things out from her side of the dresser and falling asleep.

* * *

The class just turned in the paper for the written portion of the exams. The taijutsu portion of the test was a spar between two members of the same gender. Naruto fought against Kiba in a tough but fair match and it was only due to time that both Naruto and Kiba stopped sparring. While Naruto had some light scratches to his clothing, he had no real damage to his person and Kiba had some slight bruises. Kiba got up slowly and helped the blonde up, a grin on both of their faces.

"Not bad Kiba-kun, Naruto-kun, both of you receive full marks in the taijutsu portion of the final exams and bonus points for a show of sportsmanship," Iruka said as the two combatants were shaking hands as he said this.

"No hard feelings, right Fox Boy?"

"Whatever you say dog breath," Naruto responded as they both laughed as they got off the arena platform and sat back down while watching the other fights, cheering on Sakura when it was her turn to fight against one of the other girls. After all of the fights were done, the class went back inside for the last portion of the test.

"This last test is to test your ability of ninjutsu. You will be required to do the Henge no Jutsu, the Kawimari no Jutsu and finally, the Bunshin no Jutsu. We will go in alphabetical order starting with Aburame Shino and working down the list until we get to Yamanaka Ino"

**Oh crud…**

_Thanks for the words of wisdom Kyu-sensei_ Naruto deadpanned as he waited for his turn. Once his name was called, he went into the other room before asked by Iruka to perform the three jutsus. After performing the Kawimari no jutsu and Henge no Jutsu successfully, he sighed lightly to himself and prayed for the best before he started channeling chakra for the final technique.

"Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted as he looked over at his…creation. The massive black cloak couldn't be called a clone. Looking at it for a few moments, he thought he saw a face within the creation, but he wasn't sure about that. After he dispelled the abomination, Naruto looked at the two teachers.

"You passed Naruto," Iruka started to which Naruto grinned wildly at. "However, you were only just able to pass."

"What do you mean Iruka-sensei?"

"Your grades are one A, two B's, two C's and a D+," Iruka said as he handed Naruto his headband with a grin on his face. "Congratulations for passing Naruto-kun."

"Thanks Iruka," Naruto said before mumbling about it not mattering if he couldn't pull that D up. Iruka heard it and told Naruto that Mizuki-sensei dealt with extra credit. Looking at the man, Mizuki chuckled lightly before telling him to come back after the exams were over and to send in Yamanaka Ino.

* * *

Naruto was waiting for Mizuki-sensei, wondering just what his extra credit assignment could be. Seeing that nothing would happen until Mizuki came, Naruto waited as patiently as he could. When Mizuki came out of his office, he saw the blonde-haired youth and smirked at how easy this was going to be.

"Alright Naruto, I have your extra credit assignment. In the Hokage Tower I have placed a scroll in the Hokage's scroll library. You'll recognize it by being the biggest one there. Once you collect it, I want you to meet me at a shack hidden in the woods just outside Konoha. Do you have it memorized or do I need to repeat the assignment?" Mizuki asked as Naruto shook his head in the negative.

"I understand sensei, thank you once again for giving me this extra credit assignment," Naruto said as Mizuki just grinned to himself, seeing as it was completely easy to fool the demon. He couldn't wait until later on that night when he would get the Forbidden Scroll of Konoha, but also rid Konohagakure of the demon spawn once and for all.

* * *

**I'm telling you, this doesn't seem right** Kyuubi said to Naruto, who wasn't listening since this could pull his grade up and be on the same team as Sakura. The Kyuubi repeated himself but once again he fell on deaf ears. Seeing that he wasn't going to listen, Kyuubi waited to eventually tell Naruto that he was right. Of course it was only when he was half-way to the forest and the meeting place that the sirens in the Hokage Tower went off. Looking back, the Keyblade master looked back in alarm.

_What in the world?_

**This is me telling you 'I told you so.' Mizuki made the extra credit assignment not only easy but also had you 'collect' something from the Hokage's Tower. It seems a little fishy if you ask me.**

_But…_

**Don't worry about it kit, just accept the fact that you were duped. You might as well go there, so that Mizuki doesn't think anything is amiss; we can then show him the true talents of the Konoha no Keyblade Shu **(Keyblade Master of Konoha)

_Alright…well, I'm here. Might as well learn a jutsu or two while I'm waiting_ Naruto thought before taking the large scroll off his back and put it on the ground, unrolling it as he did so, seeing what he could learn. The first jutsu that he saw was the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and was about to complain about another Bunshin jutsu before looking at the description.

"This jutsu, while being a Bunshin jutsu, is not the same as the original Bunshin no Jutsu but more powerful. This jutsu creates a solid clone that can withstand a solid hit before dispelling, unlike a regular clone which cannot take a hit. This jutsu also splits chakra between the user and his or her clone is split evenly. Furthermore, and what makes it a kinjutsu, is that anything the clone sees, hears, or does will receive that information once the clone is dispelled." After reading that, Naruto thought he would definitely learn that, even if it took him forever to learn it.

**Well that's interesting…I didn't know that the Yondaime knew about the Keyblade as well.**

_What do you mean sensei?_

**Look at the jutsu at the bottom of the page. It's about the only technique that a user can use with or without the Keyblade. If they have knowledge of it though, it is possible, but not similar to the same technique done by a person with the Keyblade, or the weapon itself.** Naruto looked down and saw what the Kyuubi was talking about, the Heart Closing Wave.

"See with your ears and slash with your Heart…the ultimate Keyblade technique: Heart Closing Wave. This jutsu is also essential for closing the heart of the World, also known as a keyhole. Locking this keyhole makes it safe from the dark entities known as the heartless," Naruto read aloud before scoffing at it. "It does sound interesting Kyu-sensei, but it's only useful for closing the Keyhole of a world. I don't see what's 'ultimate' about it"

**This is the only thing that can close and protect the world's heart. In addition, if used near the Heart of all worlds, or the Kingdom Heart, then this jutsu can also attack Heartless. It can also be used with other masters as a protection from the Heartless.**

_I see…I'm sorry for doubting you sensei._

**Apology accepted. Now then, get the Kage Bunshin skill down first, and then we'll work on the Keyblade skill.**

_Alright…_Naruto replied as he worked on the jutsu, not knowing how long time passed. A couple of hours passed before he finally completed it, and unsealed the Keyblade in order to work on the secondary skill. Several hours later, Iruka saw Naruto standing there with a few bruises on his body, evidence that he was working on something that took a lot of concentration and skill.

"Naruto-kun?" Iruka asked as Naruto looked up and saw his sensei looking back at him with a look of shock and dismay on his face.

"Iruka-sensei? You found me pretty quickly…I was only able to learn one jutsu from this scroll…" Naruto said before Iruka's face changed from before to now having a look of confusion and curiosity on it.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?"

"Mizuki-sensei said this was extra credit and if I could show you that I mastered a jutsu from this scroll; then Mizuki-sensei would bump all of my grades up by one letter grade, except the A's." Naruto said, before Kyuubi shouted at him to throw up an Aero spell and quickly, not hearing the sound of Iruka's voice as a wall of wind appeared in front of the blonde and his sensei; the several kunai and shuriken bouncing off the wall of wind.

"Naruto, what was that?" Iruka asked as Naruto quickly said later, his Keyblade shining into existence, causing Iruka's eyes to widen. The last Keyblade user of Konoha was during the times of the Shodaime Hokage and it was extremely rare for anyone to have one as well, or so the stories said.

"Come on out Mizuki-teme, I'm ready for you!" Naruto shouted, Keyblade waiting in hand before a dark chuckle echoed from the trees.

"What is that Naruto-_kun_? A toy you carry around to amuse yourself when none of the other children play with you?" Mizuki asked laughing at his own joke, missing Naruto's mischievous smirk.

"If this is a toy, then it's the coolest toy on earth. After all, how many toys let you play with…FIRE!?" A fireball jumped off the tip of the Keyblade. Mizuki ducked behind a tree. "It can also help you create a BLIZZARD!" Mizuki noticed the tree's bark grew inexplicably cold. He looked down at his fingers and found his hands frozen to the trunk. The robed Genin came from around the tree. "Hey Mizuki…"

Mizuki decided that now would be a good time to grovel, "Why are you siding with Iruka? He hates you. Do you know why he hates you? He hates you because you are-"

However, he was cut off as Naruto interrupted him. "No, I am not. The Kyuubi no Kitsune, the nine-tailed fox, is not me. I would have already destroyed Konoha if I were. This scroll would grant me ultimate power; don't make me laugh. He may be strong but he's not all that," _no offense sensei _Naruto said and thought, both gaining the shock from Iruka and Mizuki as well as a shrug from said fox.

Mizuki laughed, "Ha! No you are the fox, it's written on your face, literally. Those whisker marks scream that you are the fox."

Naruto slapped him across the face at this. "I guess it doesn't matter how many times I pound it into your thick skull, I am NOT the fox. I will tell you what I am though," Naruto said, as he kept Mizuki in his fearful embrace by having some of Kyuubi's chakra leak through. "I am Sora's successor," he took another step closer, causing Mizuki to coward back in fear, wishing that he could move so that he could step back from the boy.

"Who cares about that? You are the fox, nothing more, nothing less," Mizuki said, sneering at the boy, causing Iruka to look at his partner and sigh lightly in stupidity. If only he could see the boy underneath. _I hope you can change this man I used to call friend Naruto-kun,_ Iruka thought to himself as he listened to the rest of Naruto's speech.

"I am the Bane of All Heartless. I am the Fear within the entire Nobodies' existence. I am Kairi's hope. I bare the key of all hearts. I am the Warrior of Riku's Darkness. I am the Heart within Namine's body. I am the wielder of the Key. I am Naruto the Keyblade Master, and you better learn to respect these titles, or I am going to make you respect them," Naruto said as he gave Mizuki a swift uppercut with his Keyblade, breaking the ice restraints and sending the man sprawling onto the floor.

Mizuki tried rising up, despite his beatings. However, while he was doing this, Naruto was placing his hands into what would be his most favorite seal of all time. As he refocused on the blonde, he heard the last mumblings before he would go into the world of darkness.

"You know, I've been itching to try this out…" Naruto said before he created eleven Kage Bunshins.

In groups of three, they surrounded Mizuki before he could do anything to counter. One from each group fired a Blizzara spell on the ground, creating four icy runways, as well as locking Mizuki's feet to the ground. They then began to rush him; the ones who launched the spell threw their Keyblades and jumped on them, riding them like snowboards. The other two jumped onto the first one's shoulders. "Trinity Limit! Sub-Zero Barrage!" The two clones, on the shoulders of the third, brought their Keyblades together, crushing whatever happened to be between them, while the third simply launched himself into Mizuki's torso.

If Mizuki wasn't hit from all directions at once or locked in spot due to the ice, he would have flown all the way to Sunagakure. "And that's how you do it." Naruto said, dispelling the clones, and his previous spells.

Iruka looked on amazed at what Naruto did, especially since Mizuki laid there in a crumpled heap and Naruto hadn't even been touched. "N-n-n-Naruto…?"

Naruto looked at Iruka. "Yes Iruka-sensei?"

"What did you do…?"

Naruto sighed and began the very long tale of his master, Sora.

-Later-

Naruto carried Mizuki to the hospital, while Iruka cleared Naruto's name. Afterwards, they went to enjoy a late dinner at Naruto's favorite Ramen stand. As Naruto dug deeply into his bowl of ramen, Iruka was battling with his teacher side. _He performed the Kage Bunshin, that's good enough. _His other side disagreed, _so you're letting him retake the test? If he failed miserably, you wouldn't let him do that._

_But he can easily perform a high level kinjutsu, he took out a Chunin, and then there's the Keyblade. The least I can do is to bring his grades up. He wanted it so bad that Mizuki was able to convince him to break a law under the disguise of extra credit._ Then something hit him across the face. _Extra credit…_

"Hey Naruto…" Iruka said, getting a glance from said boy, letting him know that he had his attention. "You know…I haven't had the chance yet to give your grades to Hokage-sama yet…," Iruka stated, letting Naruto fill in the blanks. When he did so, he choked on his ramen. "Y-Y-You mean…," Naruto asked with hope shining in his eyes. At this, Iruka nodded. "Since Mizuki-san is gone, the responsibility of extra credit falls on me. As such, your extra credit assignment has been changed. You have to take down a Chunin fugitive, whose name is Mizuki. This will bring all of your grades, except your A's, up by one letter grade."

The noodles that hung in Naruto's mouth fell back into his bowl. "Are…are you…serious?"

Iruka nodded at this, before being enveloped in a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Naruto said repeatedly, causing Iruka to laugh lightly when he was let go.

"Don't mention it Naruto-kun. It was the least I could do for you after you saved my life and took care of Mizuki." Iruka said as he saw Naruto rushing off, extremely happy at the fact that he passed, both the Academy and the Hokage's requirement to be with Sakura.

* * *

The next day Naruto came in with a bounce to his step. He had made it. When he got home last night, he had done a little sewing and was able to sew his headband into his robe so it hung on his right arm. When he saw Shikamaru, he was brought down to earth a bit. He wore his on his left arm. Oh well, Naruto did more work than Shikamaru, so it _technically_ wasn't the same idea.

Naruto sat down at his spot, and waited for his soon to be teammate. When Sakura arrived, he grinned. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her and she would find out soon enough anyways. After everyone came in and got settled, Iruka came in with a clipboard.

"Before I rattle off the names of your Genin cells, let me first congratulate you on taking your first steps on becoming kunoichi and shinobi. However…you are still only Genin and your journey will only begin from here." He said as he let the new Genin process the information. "Alright, now then, you will now be placed into your Genin cell. This will be considered your family up until you head into the next rank, but that probably won't happen anytime soon. As that is settled, Team One will be…," he said as Naruto didn't completely tune him out, but he wasn't completely listening either, that is until he came to Team Seven. "Team Seven will consist of the following people: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and the final person will be Uchiha Sasuke. I repeat: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke make up Team Seven. Their sensei is…," at this, Iruka looked at the clipboard again, making sure he read it right before continuing, "Mitarashi Anko"

Naruto grinned when he heard Sakura's name but scowled when he heard Sasuke's. How could his hated rival be on the same team with him? It just screamed utter breakdown in team mechanics. Then again, he assumed that Anko would be able to do something with him…hopefully. He wasn't happy with the team mechanics, but he didn't have a valid complaint.

_He'll have to be briefed eventually…right Kyu-sensei?_

**Probably, but I think I know why the old man did this.**

_Oh?_

**Well, I've been telling you ever since you met Sakura-chan that she could be your Kairi…**

_Oh hell no, if Sasuke is Riku, I am so going to find the original Riku and give him a piece of my mind. Maybe tear him a new asshole while I'm at it._

* * *

Dragon and Sword Master: *sneaks out carefully, barrier in place just in case* um…hello? Ladies, Gents…Amber-koi? *hears nothing* damn. Anyways, sorry for the long wait, but school comes first; in addition, I got a better idea of what to do with Yugito-chan, so unfortunately; I'm changing my mind on her being Kairi.

Hinata Fans: *cheer*

Dragon and Sword Master: Hinata is still not Kairi

Hinata Fans: *boo*

Dragon and Sword Master: Anyways, fans of my other Naruto story "Son of a Kitsune," I am sorry for making you wait so long. That will be updated next, hopefully. Please Review.

Special Notice: It's not often that I do this, nor is it related to Naruto but there is a Detective Conan/Case Closed story called Conclusions. It is a wonderful Conan/Ai story and a reviewer by the name of DCRS was being a troll and sent her a flame about the couple. If everyone who reads this can do something, I would greatly appreciate it. In addition, for some reason the line breaks are working in preview and edit mode, I save it, but when I go to read it and check to make sure the breaks are there, nothing is working. I created temporary line breaks, but if someone can tell me what they think is wrong and/or if they can provide a solution better than the chain link, I'd greatly appreciate it.


	3. Naruto File 02

Dragon and Sword Master: Sorry for taking so long with this…several things came up in my real life like quitting my job and finding a new one, school, DDR and other related stuff.

Yugito: And yet he forgets to mention homework.

Dragon and Sword Master: Quiet you.

Yugito: You know you love me.

Dragon and Sword Master: …I hate it when you're right. Anyways, *ignores Yugito's grinning*

Amber: *pouts* what about me Ryu-koi?

Dragon and Sword Master: I love you too Amber-koi, you know that. Anyways, on to the chapter…before I do something stupid that I'll regret…and don't you dare start Neko-hime.

Yugito: Start what?

* * *

Naruto: The New Keyblade Master

Naruto File 02: Ringing in the New Age

Iruka told the Genin that they had an hour before they had to come back and meet their Jounin Instructor. He suggested to the newly batch of Genin to have a quick bite together, something small, in order to acquaint themselves with each other. Naruto looked around and grinned when his eyes met with Sakura's before turning into a mischievous grin as the other teams filed out of the classroom.

_What do you have planned?_ Sakura thought to herself as Naruto made his way towards her. As he outlined his plan to her, she had to agree that it would be fun to see the flabbergasted look on the last loyal Uchiha's face. They then walked over to the brooding Uchiha, who completely ignored them as he continued looking out the window, lost in thought.

"Oi, teme! We're going to eat and you're coming with us."

"Hn," was all that Sasuke replied with, before looking out the window once again. Of course, what he didn't know was that was the wrong reaction. If only he knew, just what the wrong answer would bring…

"I said you're coming with us. I didn't say you had a say in the matter. Stopga!"

Sasuke suddenly found himself in a clearing in the seemingly never-ending forest, as both Naruto and Sakura were eating out of take-out Ichiraku Ramen cartons; another box was at the ground, untouched.

"Oh good, it wore off. We weren't sure what you wanted, so Sakura and I went ahead and ordered you a small box of sushi." Naruto said as Sasuke stood and looked at the two of them in shock. He was sure that they were all in the classroom just a few minutes ago. A look of confusion quickly turned into anger before he brought his fingers up into a ram hand-seal and he channeled chakra through his body.

"Kai!"

"Oi, teme."

"Kai!"

"Maybe he's going through shock." Sakura suggested.

"Kai!"

"It would seem so." Naruto said.

"Kai!"

They tried ignoring him.

"Kai!"

They tried harder.

"KAI!"

"Okay, that's getting annoying," Naruto said

"KAI!"

Sakura nodded in agreement.

"KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI! KAI!"

"OI! TEME! THIS IS REAL! GET THAT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL! NOW EAT YOUR SUSHI!" Naruto yelled as he finally cracked under the actions Sasuke was taking.

Sasuke stopped trying to dispel the genjutsu, not believing that he got the blonde-haired youth to snap like that. Filing it away for later, Sasuke shrugged and sat down before he started eating his sushi. _How did the dobe do that?_ He thought to himself, knowing that the thought would plague him for the rest of the day if not answered.

* * *

After Sasuke finished, the trio went back to the classroom where several other classmates were waiting in the room. A few minutes, a man with a cigarette in his mouth and a beard called for team ten before Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino left with him. Every few minutes, another adult male or female came in, called a team and left with them. Soon, only team seven and team five were remaining.

A few seconds later, they heard the window crash as a large rounded object landed on the floor. A few seconds later, it activated itself and started floating via chakra before popping, confetti coming from the sides as a scroll appeared.

"Naruto…what have you gotten us into?" Sakura asked as she read the scroll aloud. "The extra sexy and still single sensei of Team Seven, meet me up on the roof, pronto!" She then looked at the blonde who didn't know what was going on at all. "Naru-kun…" she said warningly, causing Naruto to shake his head in the negative.

"I had no idea who Jiji was going to pair us with as our sensei, honest!" Naruto said, as he waved his hands in front of him in some sort of defense. It was true, even if Sakura didn't believe him. Sighing, she got up, out of her chair as the other two repeated her motion, and followed her.

* * *

Once they got to the roof, they saw a woman standing there, her purple hair held up by a brown rubber band, where braids fanned around her, similar to Shikamaru. She turned towards them as she heard the trio come up the stairs. Smirking to herself, she waited for them to get within hearing distance before taking the lead.

"Alright brats, here's what I want you to do: When I point to you, you each will tell me your name, your likes and dislikes, some of your hobbies, dreams and a jutsu, other than the three taught at the academy. Emo Prince, you're first." Anko said, while pointing to Sasuke in a tone that said 'do what I say, or die.'

"My **name** is Uchiha Sasuke. I only have one like, which is training and to list everything I dislike would take to long in order to list them all. I have no hobbies, and I don't have a dream. I do have an ambition though, which is to kill a certain man. I'd rather keep any other Ninjutsu I have to myself." Sasuke said as he stared at the woman in front of her, daring her to make him give up one of his secrets.

"If you want to keep your secrets to yourself Emo Prince, then it's all right with me. I'll find out sooner or later anyways," Anko replied, giving off a smirk that just radiated future pain. "You next pinky," Anko said, causing Sakura to lightly glare at her.

"My name is Haruno Sakura, not Pinky," she said, glaring at Anko, causing the snake mistress to smirk lightly in response, oh she would have so much fun teasing her, but Anko let her continue. "I like pranking and proving that kunoichi are useful for more than just seduction missions, and I dislike people who just assume we did something wrong when anything happens. My hobbies are pranking and making sure a certain blonde doesn't get himself killed,"

"Hey!" Naruto cried out indigently as Sakura chuckled.

"Who said I was talking about you Naruto-kun? Anyways, where was I before that interruption? Oh yeah, my dreams are to one day meet Tsunade of the Sannin, and to hopefully learn from her, although I only know of a genjutsu that makes the person using it invisible," Sakura said as Naruto grinned to himself, remembering just how many times that genjutsu got them out of trouble.

_Genjutsu, hm? I might have to see if Kure-chan can give her a few scrolls_ Anko thought to herself after listening to Sakura's speech. "Well then, Pinky, I guess we'll just have to work on your Taijutsu and Ninjutsu then," she said, getting a growl out of Sakura. "Alright Mr. Prankster, you next and then I'll go," Anko said, getting a chuckle out of Naruto.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Keyblade Master," causing Anko to smirk lightly at his attitude, waiting for the young man to continue, and for Sasuke to wonder what he was talking about. "My likes are ramen, Sakura-chan," causing the girl to blush when he said that, "and training. I dislike all bigots who don't get to know me, the three minutes it takes for all types of ramen to cook and Sakura-chan not letting me have ramen all the time. My hobbies are pranking and studying the inner mechanisms of chakra and jutsu to create spe-…Ninjutsu. I've shouted my dream at least once everyday: to become the greatest Hokage ever. I know a few jutsu that aren't from the Academy, but I can't tell you what they are." Naruto said, causing both Anko and Sasuke to look at him strangely.

"I said it once, and I'll say it again, I'll find it out sooner or later," Anko said, as all three looked at her, waiting for her to introduce herself. "Well then, I guess it's my turn, isn't it gakis?" She asked, smirking when she got glares from all three of them. "My name is Mitarashi Anko, also known as the snake mistress, but you'll refer to me as Anko-sensei, or else. My likes include dango, snakes and learning about new ways of torturing people, but my dislike is one thing and one thing only: my former sensei, Orochimaru of the Sannin. My hobbies are too sensitive for the ears of greenhorns such as yourselves, and my dream is to find and kill my old sensei as slow as possible," she said before grinning evilly. "And as your sensei, I don't plan on telling you what other jutsu I've obtained over the years, but you'll find out what I have…eventually."

The three of them shivered as she said that, wondering just how in the hells they got the psychotic one as their sensei. Sakura looked at Naruto and glared, blaming him for making them train under the crazy sensei as some type of karmic retribution. While this was going on, Anko was watching them interact.

_That Uchiha really needs to lighten up…_Anko thought to herself while waiting for them to finish, an evil grin forming on her face as she thought of how she would break the news to the aspiring Genin. She just couldn't wait to see what the three thought when they heard they weren't really Genin yet.

"Um…crazy snake sensei?" Naruto asked, causing Anko to glare at the blonde, but the smirk on her face didn't diminish.

"Yes Gaki?"

" Why do I have a feeling you're about to live up to that name?"

" Because I have some good news…well good news for me at least. You see, what you just did was graduate from the Academy, step one of becoming a shinobi. Step 2…is where we Jounin come in. You see, the academy test is just to see if you greenhorns have any potential to be ninja and learn the most basic of jutsu. We, on the other hand, make sure that you can actually handle the business outside of the village walls and to make sure that you can handle it…we put you through tests of our choosing," Anko said, smirking as the other Genin stared at Anko as if she grew a second head. "If you fail my test, you'll be sent back to the Academy for another year or alright dropped, it depends on how bad you do."

"So…just when is this test?" Sasuke asked in a bored tone of voice, as if he already knew he was going to pass the test that his sensei was going to give.

"Tomorrow, around 6 a.m. at my favorite place in Konoha, Training Ground 44, the Forest of Death," Anko said, noticing that Sakura grimaced for a few seconds, knowing that it was one of the few places that Naruto could go to and get away from anyone and everyone…exception being the purple-haired kunoichi in front of them. This information caused the blonde to grin.

_Remind me to thank you later for making me go through that hellish training…_

**Oh? If I remember correctly, you said that you would never thank me for making you train in there for a week.**

_…shut up Kyu-sensei. You forced me into section A of that place and told me to survive. It. Was. Hell…and you're making me miss whatever the snake lady is going to say_ Naruto thought as he blocked the Kyuubi out.

"—will have to deal with a pit full of poisonous snakes," Anko said, causing Naruto to groan since he didn't know what they were going to do, mentally glaring at the Kyuubi for missing the parameters of the mission. "Anyways, you three have the rest of the day off. That means no training, especially you blondie. Go come up with a prank or something…I think Kakashi could use it, and Pinkie, make sure he doesn't go overboard or train late at night. Emo Prince, go hide from your fan girls or something for a bit. Just remember: 6 a.m., training ground 44" Anko said before vanishing in a cloud of purplish smoke, not staying around to see the glares from her genin squad.

* * *

"Oh come on Sasuke-kun, it can't be that bad, besides, it's only lunch with us and I'll buy for you" Sakura pleaded to their teammate, asking him to join them for lunch while ignoring Naruto for the moment. However, her pleas met only deaf ears as the Uchiha turned and started walking away. He, however, froze when Naruto spoke up.

"Oi, teme. Don't make me force you, like last time." This was all that Naruto needed to say for Sasuke to remember exactly how that ended up.

"Fine," was all he said before turning around and looking at the two, begrudgingly following them to wherever they were going to eat, a scowl on his face. _One day I'll find out just how he did that…_Sasuke thought to himself as the three went into a barbeque restaurant, groaning when he heard the annoying voice of Yamanaka Ino.

"Hey, why don't we sit next to Chouji and the others?" Naruto asked only to get a glare from the other two. Both Sasuke and Sakura didn't mind Chouji or Shikamaru, but Ino was a completely different manner. For Sasuke, the fact that she was president of the 'Sasuke fan-girl club' only made sure that he stayed completely away from the insane blonde girl. Sakura, on the other hand, hated her because she was always trying to convert her into being a fan-girl, not listening to what the pinkette would say about dying on her first real mission if she didn't take her training seriously.

"What?" Naruto asked before he looked over and saw what was wrong, frowning lightly at the blonde girl. Sighing, he sent a silent wave over to Shikamaru and Chouji before the three of them waited for a table to open up. Soon after, a waitress came, helped them to their seats and took their order.

"Hey Sakura-chan, what exactly did Anko-sensei say about tomorrow? Someone else was gloating." Naruto asked Sakura, causing the girl to giggle as she explained how Anko tried to intimidate them by saying only nine genin out of the graduating class have a chance of succeeding and to get there at the time she said or else that they would be automatically disqualified while they waited for their food. As he was about to ask Sasuke a question, their food came and Sasuke quickly said a thank you before starting to eat, further avoiding answering any questions from the other two members of team seven.

* * *

"I can't believe that teme," Naruto muttered, annoyed that as soon as they left the establishment, he quickly left Naruto and Sakura, heading home in order to train for tomorrow, the two of them heading to their respective homes as well.

"Why do you hate Sasuke so much Naruto?" Sakura asked, getting Naruto to turn towards the pinkette.

"For several reasons, but…a few months after the time where Sasuke lost his family, I tried befriending Sasuke-teme, thinking that since he was just starting to go through the same pain of being alone as I was that I could help him and him, me. But that didn't happen…when I asked him if he wanted someone to talk to, he slapped my hand away and said that he didn't need anyone, not anymore."

"I see…you know, in a lot of ways you and Sasuke are the same," Sakura said, getting a look of surprise from the blonde. "You both have similar pasts, and yet, at the same time you have different outtakes on it. You tried hiding the pain and not letting anyone see it, where as Sasuke let his pain be shown, but didn't let anyone in to help." Sakura said as they stopped in front of her house, Sakura heading to her front door.

"I'll see you tomorrow Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, but before she went inside though, she turned around and shouted his name. "Sakura-chan?"

"Remember, no training, or else" Sakura said, Naruto knowing just how violent Sakura could get when Naruto went against her.

**She really could be your Kairi you know, especially when she cares so much about you, just as Kairi cares so much for Sora.**

_Kyu-sensei…how many times do I have to tell you to stop saying that? Just because Sora-sensei said I would need to find my Kairi and Riku, doesn't mean that my teammates are Kairi and Riku!_ _And how would you know that Sora and Kairi cared for each other anyways? _Naruto thought to the Kyuubi, shutting the mind link between them down, completely angry at the fox, not even waiting for a response.

* * *

"_Sasuke...Sasuke..."_

The raven-haired Uchiha searched the horizon for the voice, slowly taking in his surroundings. He stood on a hill in the middle of a grassy field, although he wasn't sure exactly where he was since the field stretched on for what seemed like forever.

"_Sasuke...Sasuke..."_

Again, Sasuke searched for the speaker, but found nothing, only the blue sky and grassy plains.

"Sasuke..."

Sasuke whirled around quickly, only finding an old man standing in front of him, wearing the same robe that the dobe wore. The thing that was different was that while Naruto had unruly blonde hair, the man's hair was silver-white and straight. Sasuke quickly noticed the black sword-like object in his hand, something that Sasuke could not identify.

"This weapon has a bad name..." He paused and his mouth moved, but no sound came from it. Then it came back "...will you give it a better one?" After that, Sasuke woke up, sitting straight up in his bed as a cold sweat rolled down his face.

_That was one extremely weird dream…_Sasuke thought to himself before turning over and falling back to sleep.

* * *

_Ugh, what time is it?_ Naruto thought to himself as he turned over to see that the clock said it was only five in the morning. He wanted to go back to sleep, but as soon as he tried doing so, someone was constantly beating at his door. _Ugh, go away…let me sleep. _He thought to himself as he turned away, covering his ears with the pillow hoping that it would make the pounding stop. Unfortunately, it didn't. "Alright, alright I'm coming." Naruto said annoyed, kicking the covers off and heading to open the door.

"Finally! Did you forget that Anko-sensei wanted us to meet up with her at six?" Sakura asked as she stood in front of Naruto's doorway, her hands on her hips in an annoyed manner, especially since all that Naruto was wearing were a pair of boxers, causing her to blush at his attire. "Its 5:30 right now, which gives you enough time to take a shower and get dressed, maybe even eat on the way," she said, but Naruto just stood there, still not totally awake.

"Mou…Sakura-chan…," Naruto started to say but was interrupted by Sakura telling him to get a move on. "Alright, alright already, jeez…" Naruto said as Sakura stood at the doorway of his apartment, doing what she told him to do. Fifteen minutes later, a clean, clothed and awake Naruto stood in front of Sakura, the hood of his robe pulled up over his unruly blonde hair.

"So…you want to go the quick and fun way or the long way?" Naruto asked as Sakura just gave him a look.

"What do you think?"

"The quick and fun way," Naruto said as he grabbed Sakura and pulled her close, both having a small blush due to the closeness between the two before Naruto activated a Shadow Teleport, one of the first techniques that he learned from both Sora and the Kyuubi. Then again, when it was so useful for running away when your life is on the line…then yeah, an advanced skill he needed to learn. The gate, leaving the room empty, quickly enveloped the two.

* * *

Anko was standing in front of the training ground, also known as her home away from home. She stood in front of the several gates, staring at the magnificent training ground that stood before her, grinning lightly. She knew that her genin team wasn't supposed to be there for another fifteen minutes, but out here looking at the gates and the forest was one of the few things that caused the psychotic lady true peace.

_It's been about ten years…ten years since that hebi-teme left me…_Anko thought to herself, not hearing anything going on around her. Of course, when someone comes out of nowhere and calls her "snake lady" then they would expect a kunai to the face if they were lucky, a kunai to the groin if Anko was in a bad mood. Naruto, not expecting either, quickly turned around and protected Sakura from the kunai, taking the strike, making it lightly scratch Naruto's cheek, a thin strand of blood appearing as soon as the kunai passed the two.

"What the hell you crazy snake lady?" Naruto shouted, as Sakura just stared at the kunai for a few seconds, thinking that the scratch that was healing could have been hers.

"Word of advice gaki, sneak up on me again and you won't be receiving just a scratch, understand?" Anko asked icily, causing Naruto to nod quickly. "Now then, since I have your attention, I want to show you all your new home away from home if you become Genin. This right here is one of the few places that few dare go. Your test and you cannot refuse, is this: for one whole day, you have to survive in there with two of these," and at this, Anko pulled out two scrolls, one in green and one in red, both having the same word on it, that being 'pass'. "Now then, any two scrolls will work for you to pass; however, only two of you will be getting a free ticket to having a high chance of passing, while one of you will have to work hard to get two by him or herself. Now then, it wouldn't be a test if I didn't participate so…," and with this, she pulled out three other scrolls, two green and one red. "I will have three scrolls on me. If you get lucky enough to obtain one from me, then you have to make sure to keep them both, from either of your teammates."

_A chance for me to get revenge against the dobe for that prank…_Sasuke thought to himself as he looked towards the blonde, before also looking over at the pinkette as well. _Then again, she did help…and it looks like she's the weaker of the two. I think I'll go after her first. _He barely kept the smirk off his face as he thought of what he was going to do in order to pass, feeling it a right of his as the last loyal Uchiha to become a genin.

_This isn't good…I don't know how well I'll fare in here, and I've heard the rumors about it. How the hell did Naru-kun survive in here?_ Sakura thought to herself as she subconsciously shuddered when she heard a growl coming from somewhere deep in the forest. After the growl died down, she shook her head lightly. _If I can't deal with this, then I don't deserve to be friends with Naruto. Besides…what a predator can't see, can't eat…right?_ Sakura thought to herself as she waited for more information from Anko.

_This should be a piece of cake. Get in, take a scroll or two and survive. It actually sounds like one of your type of training exercises Kyu-sensei_.

**Well then, if you think its going to be so easy, how about I add a challenge to Anko's little test?**

_A challenge?_

**Well since you see the test so easy since I threw you into the wolves den, how about I keep you to the first tier of magic spells. Now before you complain, I'm letting you use your keyblade freely as long as that other boy doesn't see it…I don't trust him just yet.**

_Wait a second…you expect me to go in there with nothing but Tier 1 spells and the keyblade…are you insane? I needed all types of my spells to get out of there alive, and some that I even created on the spot!_

**I didn't realize that my apprentice was a chicken. Perhaps everything you said to Mizuki were just empty words? Tell you what, you go through this challenge and pass and I'll teach you a nifty keyblade technique.** Kyuubi said, knowing that Naruto would take the bait hook, line and sinker and he wasn't disappointed.

_You're on. Just remember to back up your words when I win Sensei._ Naruto said as he and the other three waited for Anko to start the exam, each hoping to get one of the scrolls.

"Begin!" Anko shouted, and with that, the three were off, heading into the dangerous terrain known as the Forest of Death.

* * *

Sakura just finished concealing the trap around her scroll, one of the two lucky enough to get a head start into the test, although she did not know who got the other scroll. She hoped that whoever had it would be stupid enough to try to get the scroll that she placed out in the open for a quick and easy pass, which she would take for herself. _I just hope that none of the animals here will think of it as a small snack…_ she thought to herself before starting to climb the same tree that held her trap in place, just waiting for someone to take the bait.

* * *

Naruto's first moments during the exam were to create a small army of Kage Bunshin. While it was true that he was in the more difficult area of the Forest of Death, he was only familiar with that area. This area, on the other hand, he was not familiar with it, and as such, wanted his army of clones to help him get the layout of the area, and if he found out where the crazy snake lady was and give her a piece of his mind. Of course, he would have to get creative with only the first tier of his magical abilities, but then again, when the prize was a new technique featuring the keyblade, he would nearly do anything within his power to get it.

A few minutes passed before a few clones dispersed themselves, showing Naruto a small river and a place that wasn't too out in the open, but at the same time, easy enough for him to set up a campsite if he so wanted to. Making his way towards the area, he jumped back as several kunai struck the dirt where he was just moments ago.

"Dobe!" Sasuke shouted out as he jumped off the tree branch he was hiding on, coming down with his fist reared back and ready to attack Naruto with it when he came in range. However, what Sasuke wanted to happen didn't, as Naruto blocked it with his forearm. Before Sasuke could do anything, Naruto quickly reversed it by punching him in the face causing Sasuke to slide back and land on his feet. Not giving Naruto a chance to retreat, Sasuke quickly raced towards him again, intent on giving him pain, his pride demanded it as the last Uchiha! However, before he could do anything, Naruto once again blocked Sasuke's attempt, spinning around and delivering a kick to the side of his head, causing him to fall to the ground, Sasuke hissing lightly in pain as he landed.

"Come on little ducky, surely that's not all you can do…" Naruto taunted as Sasuke growled as he got up and back into a fighting stance.

"I'm just getting warmed up dobe," Sasuke said before going through a series of hand seals quickly before bringing his hand up to his mouth and spitting out several fireballs. Seeing as he didn't call out the name of the attack, it wasn't as powerful as it could be, but since Sasuke only wanted to use them, and the shuriken within the fireballs as a distraction, as he charged towards the blonde-haired youth.

_Crap!_ Naruto thought to himself quickly as he spread his hand out in a wave, hastily freezing the air with a blizzard spell, allowing the fireballs to smash up against the impromptu shield of ice. However, while he was dealing with the fireballs, he didn't realize the raven-haired youth come at him from the side. However, when the heel of Sasuke's foot connected with Naruto's face, Naruto just grinned before poofing out in smoke. Before he could look around and find him, Naruto exploded from underneath the ground, giving the Uchiha a European uppercut, sending him flying. Sending chakra to his legs, Naruto jumped after him. Unable to defend himself while in the air, all that Sasuke could do was take the beating that Naruto was giving him. Sixty-four hits later, and the two boys hit the dirt. Naruto using an Aero spell to create a platform of air to allow him to land gracefully, while Sasuke, once again, hit the dirt hard.

"Just give up teme and there will be less pain for you. Besides, if you keep this up you might draw some attention to the natives around here. I don't know about this area all that well, but I've heard rumors about this place. You'll need to stay alive through the night to at least attempt passing."

"Sc-Screw y-you Do-be," Sasuke said in-between breaths as he tried standing up, having a hard time doing so. However, after a few minutes, Sasuke finally stood back up and once again got into a fighting stance.

"You still want to fight? Sorry Sasuke-teme, but I already beat you. Now then, if you excuse me, I need to find Anko-sensei and try getting a scroll from her," Naruto said as he turned away from him. Sasuke growled at this act, seeing it as an act against his pride, and as his such, his pride needed vengeance.

"Come back here Dobe, Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke shouted as he launched a medium-sized fireball at Naruto.

**Kit, behind you!**

That was the only warning that he got before he used an Aero spell to defend himself and quickly substituting himself with a log, watching it burn sadly to the ground. Before the air spell could help aid the katon, Naruto quickly used another blizzard spell to freeze the contained flame. Turning his head to look at Sasuke, Naruto glared at the raven-haired youth, unconsciously directing a small amount of killing intent at him and that was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

Naruto was frowning as he hung upside down and Sakura laughing at his position. He didn't realize that after finishing with Sasuke, he was near Sakura's trap. Seeing the scroll laying out in front of him, he headed towards it for a few seconds before stopping. Quickly creating a Kage Bunshin, he sent it forward, allowing the first trap to spring up and around the clone. Having it dispel itself, he went towards the scroll, not realizing that Sakura placed _another_ rope trap right underneath the first one. This caused the real Naruto to face the same dilemma that the clone had, but unlike the clone, he couldn't just poof out of existence. He continued to frown as Sakura just looked at him, continuing to giggle at the site before him. It wasn't often that she got something past him, and they both knew she wouldn't let him live it down.

"Come on Saku-chan, let me down."

"Why should I?"

"Because I know where you sleep and you don't know where my pranking supplies are," Naruto said, causing a grin to form on his face as Sakura frowned lightly as to what he was implying.

"…I hate you, I hope you realize that," Sakura said before flinging a kunai at the rope, cutting it in one motion and letting Naruto fall flat on his face. Sakura grinned lightly at her childish antic, glad that she decided taking her scroll and putting it back in a side pocket. Before anyone could do anything, the two jumped out of the way as two kunai came down right where they were moments ago. Their danger sense was still going off, backing off a few more feet, glad that they did so. As Anko appeared in the surrounding, Naruto summoned his keyblade.

"Anko-sensei what are you…" Sakura started to say before she had to hit herself in the head for her stupidity. "Of course you would be a part of the test…you just didn't say it." She said as Anko grinned.

"Figured it out in one shot pinkie, I'm impressed, or as a fellow one eyed Jounin would say 'looked underneath the underneath'. Now then, where is the emo prince? I don't see him around…"

"He decided to try and burn down me and the forest, so I put him in a spell combo I created 'Area Stop' he'll be frozen until the end of the exam. Safe and unharmed…well, except for his pride…maybe," Naruto stated as he got into a fighting stance, his keyblade at the ready, which Anko couldn't help but laugh and comment on it.

"Aw, how cute, the little boy wants to play hero. Perhaps I should run and hide from his big awful keyblade," Anko said, mocking Naruto and trying to get him riled and angry. Unfortunately for Anko, Naruto didn't charge in headfirst or angry, but the slight glare she received made her grin, which disappeared as soon as he did. However, Anko quickly brought out a kunai of her own to block the two-handed downward slash of the keyblade, and from there it was a blur.

_I can't even keep up…_Sakura thought as she looked towards the two battling forces. Then again, even Anko was having trouble keeping up with the blonde Keyblade Master herself until luckily; she tripped on a root as Naruto lunged at her with his keyblade. This caused Anko to grin lightly as she quickly went into a set of hand seals before several snakes came out of her sleeves, most of them biting into Naruto's skin, causing the boy to wince in pain.

_Kyu-sensei, do summons count against me in our bet?_

**No…why?**

_So that I can do this and still win our bet_ Naruto thought before he winced in pain, causing him to slow down in his attacks. However, as Anko was coming to land a critical blow, Naruto retaliated with a spinning side kick, lightly grinning as she skid away, not knowing just what was about to happen. Growling, Anko raced towards the blonde, wanting to show him a new meaning to the word pain when suddenly, Anko started to dance around in the strangest of manners.

"Ooh, Aah, Eeh Aah!" She dropped the kunai she drew and started beating herself. Suddenly, a red lizard jumped off Anko and landed in Naruto's open palm.

"Your scroll, Master Naruto." He said, handing the boy one of the scrolls Anko held on her person.

"Thanks, Mushu."

Amazed, Anko could only look on as he handed the scroll he just received to Sakura, after seeing the act, she wondered if he realized the real objective of the test, but before that, she wanted to know just what type of lizard that was, "So, you have a lizard summoning contract, eh gaki?" Anko asked, not realizing just how close she was to a viscous mauling from the mini dragon.

"Lizard!" The reptile cried indignantly, "Lizard! Did I hear her right?" Without waiting for an answer, the reptile puffed out his chest and said, "I'll have you know that I am a _Dragon_, say it with me, Dra-gon."

"Okay Mushu, relax, and just let me deal with her," Naruto said as Mushu just snorted, tiny flames rising from his nostrils.

"Fine, but teach her the difference between a dragon and a lizard," Mushu said before disappearing in a ball of light, causing Naruto to chuckle lightly before sighing in relief. Their sensei didn't realize how close she came to being…well, he didn't even remember what happened the last time someone didn't stop Mushu.

"Whew…that was a close one there Hebi-sensei," he said as he slowly turned around, not realizing that he just pissed her off. She quickly went through a series of hand seals as snakes shot out of her sleeves, several of them extremely poisonous.

"Naruto, those are Black Mamba snakes! Don't let them bite you!" Sakura quickly shouted before Naruto lightly gulped, silently wishing he picked the rod as his strength before he put all of his power into the Reflect spell that he just summoned and spread around both Sakura and himself, letting the snakes bounce off of the impromptu shield.

_Now to get rid of them…_he thought to himself before he created a hand seal and had two other clones quickly spread out in an equilateral triangle, all three of them sticking their keyblades into the ground at the same time, "Trinity Limit: Sink Hole!" Naruto shouted as all three of them used Quake spell, causing the land within the area shake before splitting apart, the snakes disappearing in a poof of smoke as they fell into the snake hole. While there keyblades were still in their original position, the three focused chakra into the blades. "Trinity Limit: Reformation!" the original Naruto shouted, causing the land in front of them to reform, as if the three Quake spells never happened. _I'm going to need an Ether or Elixir after this…_he thought to himself once again, panting lightly at all the spells he was using.

**You're lucky that Trinity Limit uses only the first tiers of that spell; otherwise, you would have just lost our little bet. Although I think that a little wardrobe change is in order…**

_I haven't mastered that though! I can barely get Brave Form to work__and even if I do get it to work, it's only for a few minutes at best. Besides, I can beat her without the Forgotten Truth keyblades._

**All right then, just remember she IS a Jounin for a reason…**the Kyuubi said before becoming quiet once again as Naruto turned around and saw Sakura standing there with a neutral look on her face. "Saku-chan…I'm going to need your help on this one."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well…" Naruto started as he whispered into her ear what he wanted to do to get the final two scrolls that Anko held, both realizing that they wouldn't like this one bit.

* * *

A cold and icy glare was staring at Naruto's back and was starting to annoy the blonde, especially when he was the one who freed him and after hearing how Sasuke tried to ambush Naruto, she wasn't pleased at the Uchiha either. However, after freeing him, Naruto gave him an ultimatum: either work with them until the test was over, or die.

"Listen teme, you don't like me, I get it, but can we work together long enough to survive in here?" Naruto asked before he stopped for a few seconds, memories from a clone coming back to him. "Oh crap…she's planning something bad."

"She's a prankster like you dobe, what can be worse than the half-baked plans you come up with?" as he asked that, both Sakura and Naruto stepped away from him.

"…He had to say it, didn't he?" Naruto asked in a whisper as Sakura nodded, both waiting to see just what would happen to their teammate. Sasuke just shrugged at their actions, figuring that they finally knew who his teammates were with, one of the great clans: the Uchiha. Of course, what he didn't know was that his words were about to trigger something bad for him and was the real reason why Naruto and Sakura backed away from him.

A few seconds later, the inevitable happened as Sasuke first tripped on a root before falling into a small hole that Anko made earlier, also leaving behind a few non-poisonous snakes. Naruto and Sakura both cautiously approached the pit.

"Get me out of here!" Sasuke shouted/ordered as he started attacking the snakes, trying to make sure not to have the snakes bite him.

"You didn't say please teme," Naruto said, causing him to smirk at Sasuke lightly, knowing that it would be a great blow to the Uchiha's pride. Sasuke just glared at him for a few seconds before scowling lightly, before thinking of something. Growling lightly, he took two kunai out of his pouch and stabbed them into the earth, pulling himself upwards slowly, climbing towards the two.

* * *

_Damn it, another set of clones! How many did the blonde gaki make? _Anko thought to herself in anger as the three she just recently defeated went up in smoke…again. It was starting to annoy her immensely and the worse of it all was that while they were out hiding, creating traps or god knows what they were doing, Anko was wasting chakra while the only thing the trio was wasting, was time.

Growling lightly, Anko spotted a speck of pink hair off in the distance, hoping that this time, this was the real thing and if it weren't, she'd do something extremely drastic before going after the blonde brat for being so annoying. Then again, with what she had in mind for training, she could slightly forgive the blonde for being an annoyance. Looking towards the tower, she judged that the trio had a little longer before night fell in. _I'll wait until then. It will be the best way to see how well they work together…I just need to watch out for Naruto, and maybe Sakura as well. Perhaps I should go after the Emo Prince…he does need to lose that superior attitude of his after all. _While thinking of her plan of attack, she caught a glimpse of pink hair out of the corner of her eye.

Looking at the slowly dissipating sunlight in the area, she stealthily followed Sakura back to the campsite, being careful to stay away from any of the Kage Bunshin in the area. Now, all she had to do was wait until they fell asleep or placed one member on watch duty.

* * *

Sakura was coming back from gathering a small amount of firewood for the night fire, allowing them to see during the night and fight if need be. Furthermore, it would help keep any creatures native to the forest away from the trio while they slept. Of course, she was the one to suggest having someone watching at all times in case Anko attacked and since she was the one who suggested it, Sasuke had to be sarcastic about it and say that since it was her idea why not let her collect the firewood for them. This pissed her off and before anything else happened, Sakura stormed off in one direction.

"Stupid arrogant know-it-all…I don't know what Ino and all the others see in him," Sakura kept mumbling to herself, still annoyed at the fact that it was Sasuke, of all people, who mocked her. Of course, being as pissed off as she was, she wasn't paying close attention to her surroundings. Once a snake wrapped around her mouth though, Sakura quickly realized that her sensei was there, and by then, it was too late for her to yell for help. A pair of snakes wrapped around her wrists before another pair of snakes went under her shirt, looking for the pair of scrolls that she had on her person.

"Well what do you know, I caught me a pinkie," Anko said, smirking as Sakura just glared at the older female. "Now, now, it's not my fault you forgot one of the first rules of being a kunoichi. By the way…how do you like my Hebi Hitoya no Jutsu? (Snake Prison Technique) Technically, it's just a manipulation of my Sen'eijashu, (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) but what do you think about it, hm?" Anko asked, as she got closer to her hostage as Sakura desperately tried getting out of the jutsu. "Now if only you were a little older…I could show you so many things…" Anko smirked as Sakura paled, not entirely liking the implications of what she was saying.

* * *

_I'm worried…Sakura-chan should be back by now._ Naruto thought to himself as he used a few clones to look for her. He knew that she could look after herself, but he just couldn't help but shake the feeling that something had happened to Sakura. Just as he was about to head out to join his clones in the search, one of the clones dispelled, giving him the last of its memories. _That…isn't good._

**What are you going to do Naruto? Anko said…**

_I know what she said! If I don't come alone and give up my scroll, then she's going to kill Sakura-chan! Would you let me off the hook with our bet to save her?_

**No. Stuff like this happens in the real world Naruto, and unless you don't want to learn a new Keyblade technique, then you'll stick to the terms of our arrangement. Understood?**

_I…understand. That still doesn't mean I won't just give up without a fight…hm…I hate to say this, but I'm going to need a plan…_Naruto thought to himself while the Kyuubi watched on, each plan coming to fruition within the blonde's mind. As he got up, Sasuke looked in his direction with a raised eyebrow, but didn't question him. Then again, this was a good thing, especially since Anko told him to come alone. After a few minutes, Naruto finally saw Anko near a set of trees with Sakura tied to one of the trees, held there by Anko's summoned snakes. Closing his eyes for a second, Naruto sensed that a few of his Kage Bunshin were still alive.

_And I can't just use my magic…Sakura-chan might get hit by accident._ Naruto thought to himself, sighing. The only thing he knew about Anko was that she liked to use snakes as well as Taijutsu to subdue her opponents and then most likely torture them. _She wouldn't do that to her…would she?_ He thought to himself before shaking his head repeatedly. Thinking along those lines wouldn't help anyone.

"Come on out gaki! I know you're there…unless you don't care what happens to your girlfriend…," Anko shouted, hoping that the real one was there by now. The brat probably didn't know it, but by using all the Kage Bunshin he was using, he was confusing her ability to sense him, which is why she stayed near her hostage instead of looking for Naruto.

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Naruto shouted as Anko grinned and vanished from the area, going to where the sound was coming from. Creeping up on him stealthily, he wouldn't even realize what hit him. Coming up behind him, she readied a kunai to strike; however, she felt like something was wrong and quickly created some hand seals before sinking under the ground. The Naruto in front of her scowled before vanishing into smoke.

At this time, the real Naruto was heading closer to where Sakura was held, quickly bringing his keyblade into the open and cutting through the snakes. Before Sakura could fall to the ground, Naruto caught her with one hand. _I'm surprised that switching myself with a clone after that outburst actually worked…_he thought to himself before his danger sense started going off, causing him to jump away from the spot he was standing on just moments ago. He couldn't believe that he just cheated death as Anko appeared from the ground that he was standing on just moments ago. Placing Sakura down behind a tree, one of the few remaining Kage Bunshin jumped out and brought his keyblade into existence, as did the original Naruto.

"Now then…"

"It's time to show you…"

"Just what happens…"

"To people who hurt my friends!"

* * *

Dragon and Sword Master: *heads to a bunker and closes the door behind him* Everyone's mad at me…I haven't uploaded a new story in so long…*hears banging outside to see many fans pissed* Crap…people are pissed.

Sakura: But so much has happened between that time and now…quitting your old job, finding a new one, having to get a new laptop, school, family…

Dragon and Sword Master: *nods* I'm just glad I had everything stored on a Gaia Memory…anyways, sorry for getting this out so late Minna-san, please forgive this humble soul…and don't forget to review please, especially if you liked the chapter!

Yugito: Hopefully next chapter won't be as long!


	4. Naruto File 03

Dragon and Sword Master: New chapter, new inspirations. Let it be known that whatever the critics think I don't agree with them.

Yugito: Dragon-kun, you're ranting about "The Cape" again, aren't you?

Dragon and Sword Master: Yes, I am, and I will do so for as long as I want, damn NBC for canceling the series, and not even putting the last episode on air! *growls*

Yugito: While he continues ranting, I'll put this chapter up for everyone to read, just please, Dragon-kun asked that if you liked the story to at least add it to your favorite story/story alert list or give him a review.

Dragon and Sword Master: Before I forget, there was an anonymous reviewer named Naruhina fan. To respond to that review I offer this reply:

I'm surprised that a Naru/Hina fan isn't at my throat, especially since this story was originally a Naru/Hina story. Your guesses are correct, but my author notes already stated that information. Naruto's main keyblade will be the Kingdom Key, unless he activates a Drive Form (I hinted as to which two keyblades he uses while in a drive form). Naruto's final keyblade, however; will be an original keyblade. Sorry, but I cannot give you any more information than that. Furthermore, I agree with you when you say that Way of the Dawn isn't a bad name, but something WILL happen to that particular keyblade, which is all that I'm going to say about that. Anyways, thank you for the compliments and the update is below! Have fun enjoying the newest file.

* * *

Naruto: The New Keyblade Master

Naruto File 03: The First Rule of Naruto

Anko looked on amused as he saw Naruto and the clone appeared beside one another, both brandishing their keyblade. The amusement died in her eyes as the two vanished, before she quickly drew two kunai and held them out to the side of her body, blocking both strikes. As the keyblades hit the kunai, sparks flew from the weapons. _If I can get that away from him…_she thought to herself as she used a kawarimi with a branch, giving her space and a little time to finish a set of hand seals.

"Katon: Endan!" (Fire style: Fireball) Anko shouted as she released a giant fireball from her mouth, causing Naruto to curse before splitting the giant fireball in two, the clone using a blizzard spell to melt the fire. Thinking that they were in the clear, the clone lowered his weapon as both he and the original raced towards the Jounin. However, they didn't see the grin on Anko's face that promised more pain for both Narutos. The clone suddenly disappeared, leaving Naruto half a second to duck under the incoming fireball.

"What the hell?" Naruto asked as Anko used the distraction to create a mud clone, and hid herself within the dense forestry, waiting for just the right moment to strike. Naruto didn't see any of this happen as he lightly winced before getting back up. He was sure the fireball didn't hit so why…shaking his head lightly, he would think about it later, when their lives weren't in much danger.

* * *

Sasuke scowled as he hid behind the brush. He was an Uchiha damn it, and even though he didn't want to admit it, a tiger and a bear the size of his house was not something he wanted to take on. Slowly backpedaling away from the two animals, he didn't realize that he just stepped on a branch, the crack emanating from it causing the young Uchiha to curse, especially when he saw the two animals look over in his direction. _Why me…_the Uchiha thought to himself before quickly starting to run for his life, somehow knowing that his katon jutsus would not affect the animals in the slightest.

* * *

Naruto was breathing hard, already thinking about summoning Genie or a different offensive summon…but then Anko would ask how he got all the different summons and he did not want to explain the many adventures that Sora-sensei or the gifts that some of his friends gave him over the years just yet to her. Dodging yet another snake, he clenched his teeth as another clone bit the dust. He didn't mind protecting the unconscious Sakura, but his reserves were getting low and it had already been ten minutes since he first engaged his potential sensei. Thankfully, it was only a clone that fell victim to her earth pull…or whatever that jutsu was named early on. He turned around and checked on Sakura before realizing something.

…_I'm an idiot. Sakura-chan must be under a genjutsu!_ He thought to himself as he used Aero to defend against two sets of boulders coming from opposite directions. This was one of the reasons that he was starting to breath hard: Anko's clones used the same jutsu as the original and were just as annoying as his own were; however, where as his clones only took one hit before dispelling, Anko's were unfortunately more difficult to dispel. He summoned a small amount of chakra to create several more Kage Bunshin, giving them all the order to run interference and buy him enough time to get to Sakura.

Heading towards the tree that he left the pink-haired girl under, the clones were in a battle for their pseudo-based lives. Using the chakra and mana given to them, they made the most of their abilities, battling against Anko by use of their keyblades. The several angles from the keyblades caused Anko to stop her advance and work on defending herself, the clones that she summoned not faring as well as his were. He growled as he felt another clone go down in battle before finally getting over to where he left Sakura. Glancing for one second over to where his clones were cleverly using the Shadow Transport and the fire spell to confuse Anko, he chuckled lightly to himself before kneeling down and placing his hand on her shoulder.

* * *

"_Come on Naruto-kun, wake up!" Sakura shouted as she shook his shoulder, hoping that her small knowledge of medical aid was enough to heal the wound caused by the kunai she saw embedded in Naruto's right arm. She sighed out in relief as she saw the blonde start to stir, but her relief was quickly shattered as she saw him summon his keyblade and quickly slash at her, or attempt to slash her as she quickly jumped backwards. "N-Naruto-kun?" she asked, not completely sure as to why her friend was attacking._

"_I'm not this Naruto you speak of…girl. I must thank you though for healing me, even if it was stupid…" he said as he once again tried attacking her with the keyblade, grinning evilly as it struck her side, drawing blood and making her fall to the ground below. "I thought you were stronger, girl…that's certainly what the boy I killed a few minutes ago said about you. Sayonara," he said as he raised the weapon high…_

_Closing her eyes, she waited for the inevitable attack that would end her life, never being able to express her feelings to her friend…but the attack never came._ Sakura carefully opened her eyes, only to see a pair of concerned blue eyes looking back at her, Naruto's hand on her shoulder.

"Saku-chan, you okay?" Naruto asked as he quickly stopped channeling a small amount of his chakra to break the genjutsu. Sakura did the best she could to keep her composure, feeling that he didn't need to know that whatever just happened really shocked her. "Hebi-sensei somehow got you in a genjutsu," he said, answering her unsaid question.

"Thanks, just give me a few moments and I should be okay. How are you holding up?" She asked, seeing Naruto lightly sweating and panting from using so much magical attacks.

"I'm fine, although I might have to kick it up a notch soon, and start going with tier 2 spells," Naruto said as Sakura nodded, raising an eyebrow when Naruto scowled lightly.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Sorry, just sensei reminding me of a bet we made before entering, that's all. It's nothing to worry about Saku-chan," he said, not wanting to explain the bet he made with the Kyuubi. "Now then, willing to back me up?"

"Always, but you need to rest. Give me a few seconds as my backup, and then I'll back you up." She grinned deviously, several plans already forming in her mind to get revenge on their sensei. When Naruto saw the devious grin on her face, he was glad that she was on his side and almost felt sorry for Anko.

"I'm fine Saku-chan, honest!" Naruto said, as Sakura just looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not believing him in the slightest and Naruto knew it. "Alright…maybe I used a little too much mana and chakra trying to save our asses as the hero," he sheepishly added, wincing as Anko finished with the last of his Kage Bunshin with a spear of earth. Naruto felt the phantom pain in his shoulder, grimacing in pain. Sakura just shook her head at her friend's antics before taking a couple kunai and shuriken, throwing most of them at the purple-haired female before rushing forward.

* * *

Sasuke couldn't believe his luck. Instead of finding his sensei and obtaining two scrolls from her, he ran into everything else. Bugs and other critters of the insect kingdom luckily fell to his fire jutsu, but nothing else he tried on the animal kingdom worked. It seemed as if Fate herself was playing a cruel trick on the Uchiha.

_I can't believe a proud Uchiha like myself is running from a bunch of wild forest animals…big forest animals, but nothing else. I should be able to take these things down easily! Why can't I? _Sasuke thought to himself as he carefully hid in the lush forest. Normally, this would be the end of the situation and he'd be back on his merry way proving to the dobe why exactly he was Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, this was anything but normal.

The lion stared at the human in front of him, slowly prancing towards his pray. The cliff behind the human made sure that he had nowhere left to run. As he pounced, he never saw the human move, yet he was falling down the cliff, instead of feasting on a stupid human who entered its territory. Sasuke calmed himself down, not realizing that his eyes were now a blood red, two tomoes appearing in the irises of his eye. _…what just happened?_ He suddenly felt very tired, but he shrugged it off as best he could. He did not want to do whatever he did again.

Before anything else could happen, he caught a glimpse of a person with blonde hair flying backwards before hitting a tree, barely feeling the vibrations from the hit from his position. No matter how hard he tried, Sasuke just couldn't stop the smirk growing on his face as he headed over to where his fellow…teammates were. He wouldn't call it helping them, but he would prove them wrong when Naruto said he wanted his help. _Yeah right, more like the dobe needs my help, especially if this Anko person is defeating him so badly._ He thought to himself before heading over to Naruto's downed position.

* * *

_Ugh…what hit me?_ Naruto thought to himself as his body slowly responded to the rule of gravity and slowly fell back down to earth, tree bark staining the back of his robes. He slowly got up and shook the cobwebs out of his head. He remembered letting Sakura go after their sensei, but that was all he remembered.

* * *

"Naruto-kun!" Sakura shouted as the pinkette saw Naruto take a punch laced with chakra, causing him to fly back in pain. She then looked back to their sensei with anger in her eyes. However, unlike earlier in her life, Sakura didn't let it cloud her judgment. She threw a kunai at the older female, and right after she threw it started going through several hand seals before disappearing from Anko's sight.

Anko scowled as she sidestepped the thrown kunai and let it embed itself in a tree trunk. _Good thinking…I might have to start taking these two seriously. Now if only that Uchiha was as good as the two of them…_she thought to herself before wincing, a punch to her stomach was the only indication that Sakura was still in the general area. Anko retaliated with a quick jab, but only met air. She then fell forward a bit, feeling a bruise slowly starting to form as she felt herself receive a kick to the back. Growling, she turned around and sent out a kick of her own, only to meet air once again.

"Alright girl…you're starting to really piss me off, _and I kinda like it,_" Anko growled out, hissing in pain as a kunai glanced her arm, a light strand of blood coming from the wound. Before anything else could happen, Anko focused chakra into the sleeves of her jacket, causing the small summoning seal there to activate one of her more favorite jutsus. "Sen'ei Tajashu" (Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) Anko said silently, as several snakes appeared from her sleeve, all appearing to be bigger than normal and would fit right in with the other inhabitants of the forest. The snakes tasted the air for a few seconds before all slithering towards one spot, and coiling around something solid but not detectable by human eyes. _Gotcha. _Anko thought to herself before she flicked a kunai towards Sakura.

_Crap!_ Sakura thought to herself before she quickly replaced herself with a log, before she felt the earth underneath her start moving on its own. Not staying around to see what was going to happen, Sakura quickly jumped into a tree, not realizing the dangers that were in said tree.

_Ooh… she's going to hate tree jumping for a while after that…_Anko thought to herself for a few seconds before heading over to the tree and sighed, before jumping up and into the swarm, intent on rescuing her most-likely future student.

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke heard the scream at the exact same time, causing Naruto to move faster to where he somewhat sensed Sakura and Anko fighting. Then again, when dealing with Sasuke, he was making damn sure that the jackass wasn't going to try to instigate another fight with him, or steal the scroll that was on his person, so he decided to walk behind the Uchiha. Sasuke, noticing this, decided on walking at a slow but steady pace, lightly angering the blonde behind him. Because of this, Sasuke couldn't help but keep the small smirk off his face.

"Damnit Sasuke, can't you go faster?" Naruto finally asked, causing Sasuke to smirk more and turn lightly to face the blond as he answered.

"I could…but why care for such a weakling as her?" Sasuke asked as Naruto quickly shoved him up against a tree, his arm against the Uchiha's throat.

"Sakura-chan is not weak, and if you ever suggest that again, then I don't care who you are or what clan you came from, I will kick your ass so hard you won't even know what hit you, understood?" Naruto asked, unconsciously letting out some of the Kyuubi's chakra. The only thing Sasuke could do was nod quickly before he pissed himself. After getting the nod, Naruto let go as Sasuke fell unceremoniously fell on his back, taking in air with big gulps as Naruto raced ahead.

* * *

Sakura winced lightly as she finally came back into the world of consciousness, causing Anko to sigh lightly in relief. She knew that all the wasps in the forest, while small, made up for their weakness by having a paralyzing poison and injected it into their victim. With the amount of stings that Sakura had, she was lucky none of her vital organs got paralyzed as well when she fell from the tree.

"Ugh…what happened?" Sakura asked a little slurred, still a little bit under the poison's effect.

"Tree Wasps and you jumped into one of their nests, which I'm sure you realized is not entirely fun. Don't talk, you're still under the affect of their stings," Anko said as she used her skills as one of the snake summoners to draw the poison out of Sakura's system and into her body. "Before you ask, Tree Wasps pose as a regular tree and wait for the victim to get within their nest, then they attack, repeatedly stinging and injecting their venom, causing paralysis.

"Enough venom and…?"

"Yup, you're on the right track. That's how they kill their prey actually. They continuously sting their victim until there's enough to paralyze the lungs, heart, and all other important organs, but you should be okay now. Just sit up, slowly," Anko said as Sakura followed the directions, slowly sitting up and looked around, not trusting Anko in the slightest after what she did to her. Anko noticed this and smirked just a little at the action. "Just because I'm crazy doesn't mean I'll attack you right after saving you. Relax," Anko said, causing Sakura to raise an eyebrow at their potential Jounin-sensei.

"Relax, around you?" Sakura asked as Anko just laughed at her comment.

"I'm starting to like you girl, just as much as your boyfriend," Anko said after she caught her breath, causing Sakura to blush before starting to say that he wasn't her boyfriend, causing Anko to laugh once again. This wasn't her crazy psychotic laughter, for once; this was just normal laughter coming from the purple-haired Jounin. After Sakura slowly started standing up, with the help of Anko, she still had a blush on her face from the embarrassment of having their potential sensei call Naruto, who she assumed Anko was talking about, as her boyfriend.

"So…what now?" Sakura asked as Anko calmed down and got serious, thinking as to how to answer that question. Technically, only Sakura passed since she had two scrolls, but overall, and for the true purpose of the test she adopted from her lazy drinking buddy, only Naruto was the one to succeed. She didn't even bother to count Sasuke seeing as he failed both ways. Either way she looked at it, only one person passed and one person out of the three wouldn't cut passing the exam, not in Kakashi's eyes, and definitely not in her eyes.

"Anko-san?"

"Well Pinky, the sun is coming up and unless your boyfriend can appear and take a scroll from me soon, or that Uchiha somehow can get two scrolls off of me, then both guys will fail and you will pass," Anko started saying as she felt Naruto's chakra coming nearby. Soon after she sensed his chakra, Naruto appeared in the clearing, summoning his keyblade instantly.

"Get away from Sakura-chan, Hebi-sensei!" Naruto shouted as he raced towards the two females, misunderstanding the situation between the sensei and Naruto's best, and only, friend. Anko smirked at this and brought out two kunai, brandishing them in a defensive position, her body language telling him to bring it on, which Naruto did.

Sakura didn't blink for a second, but even then, she could only hear the clashing of metals as Naruto's keyblade met Anko's kunai, her eyes unable to see the fast pace of the battle before her. However, that didn't stop her from relaxing her guard, especially when a thrown kunai nicked the tree from where she was watching.

Five minutes passed before both Naruto and Anko reappeared on separate edges of the impromptu battlefield, each with numerous amounts of small cuts, wounds and tears to their outfits. Naruto had more than Anko, but that was only because he was a Genin and she was a Jounin.

"N-not b-bad brat. You sure have the stamina for a long battle…I wonder if pinkette likes your stamina as well?" She asked as she caught her breath, causing Naruto to blush in both anger and embarrassment at the statement. Anko took that time to get in close to him and slash at him with one of her two weapons, blood appearing on one of the weapons she held in her hands. She then heard a rustle behind her and turned, her eyes opened wide as Anko looked upon another Naruto, who was in the middle of a downward swing. If it wasn't for her danger sense and quick reflexes that got the two kunai up in a guard position fast enough, then she would have received a nasty scar to her back. Growling lightly, she quickly disposed of the clone.

"You brat, you did that on purpose!" She said, causing Naruto to grin, as the wounds on his body started healing thanks to the Kyuubi.

"Perhaps, but I believe one of the rules to being a shinobi is being aware of your surroundings at all times, ne Hebi-sensei?" Naruto asked cheekily, getting a small groan out of Sakura at his disrespect to their sensei. Not bothering to see Anko nod, he continued, "and there are also rules when it comes to dealing with me: the first one is that anyone who hurts Sakura-chan gets hell from me!" He exclaimed, causing Anko to laugh and Sakura to blush lightly at this. What he didn't know was that he also gave Sasuke an idea of how to get even with his hooded teammate. "Now then, how about we take the kiddy gloves off?" Naruto asked cheekily as he held his Keyblade in a reverse-blade grip, Anko smirking evilly at his offer.

"I say you have you have the right idea…just don't cry to Pinky when I kick your ass!" She shouted before quickly getting close. Naruto swung the keyblade, catching Anko in the arm, lightly drawing some blood. Grimacing lightly, Anko jumped back, before going through a couple of hand seals before using another fireball. However, this time she put more chakra into the jutsu, thus making it more powerful.

_Crap!_ Naruto thought to himself before reflexively channeling mana into his keyblade, unleashing a Blizzara at the jutsu. Anko just looked wide-eyed at the spell for a few seconds before jumping out of the way of a quick slash, not noticing the spell canceling out the jutsu. If she didn't know any better then she would have sworn that the brat just got faster…

* * *

Sakura sensed something from behind her and ducked as a kunai flying pass right where her head use to be. Looking behind her, she glared at the raven-haired youth. She could understand him trying to make her unconscious, but to kill…that was unforgivable. Before Sasuke could throw another weapon at her, Sakura replied by flinging a shuriken to where she thought the boy was.

She followed the thrown weapon, scowling when she saw that it was embedded in a piece of the hardened tree. Her danger sense was going off and she pivoted to the left, hearing a shout of surprised pain from behind her as the fist hit the tree, the shockwave traveling back up to the person. Turning around, she saw Sasuke blowing lightly on his fingers, not noticing that Sakura was getting ready to retaliate. Because Sasuke wasn't paying attention and so working on getting feeling back into his hand, he felt the full effect of Sakura's foot hitting his ribs, as well as missing the slight smirk on Sakura's face. Of course, while Sakura was focused on Sasuke, she forgot about his other hand, causing her to silently cry out in pain as he anchored her leg in the spot where she kicked him and used his free arm to apply pressure around her ankle as he pushed down and up at the same time, focusing on breaking her leg.

Sakura growled lightly, trying to think of a way to get out of his hold and with her leg not broken. She felt more pain coming through her leg before coming up with a plan. She wouldn't be able to get out of his hold scot-free, but it would be better than a broken ankle or worse. Taking a kunai out of her pouch, she took aim and threw the kunai to where Sasuke would most likely want to dodge, or suffer extreme pain in the immediate future. Feeling him let go of her foot, she put it down on the ground and instantly felt pain jolt up her body.

While she kept her senses active, she started getting away from Sasuke as best as she could and to figure that she had a sprained ankle. She hoped that was all it was as she limped away from the young male. When she felt as if she got a good distance away from Sasuke, she experimented once again by putting a small amount of weight on her foot and had to bite back a shout of pain. She growled at her weakness, before looking for something that could help her put at least a little weight on her sprained ankle. Spotting two pieces of wood nearby, she placed them parallel to her ankle before taking a piece of her sleeve in her mouth before tearing the fabric off and tying the two pieces of wood together to her ankle.

She was about to get up when she felt the cold metal on her neck and a voice whispering into her ear, "Hello there Sakura-chan…"

* * *

Both participants were standing on opposite ends of the clearing, panting lightly. However, the cloaked blonde was panting just a little bit more since he was using a small amount of his chakra to keep up with the purple-haired Special Jounin, while the Jounin was just using pure speed. During the high-speed battle, Naruto was also able to obtain another scroll, granting him the ability to pass should he be able to hold onto the two scrolls.

"Not bad brat," Anko said as she took a second to look around her surroundings, smirking lightly at all the damage that they created during their fight. _Still can't believe he threw those jut…spells at me so quickly and easily…_she thought to himself under a façade of calmness as she stared at the cloaked boy holding the Weapon of Light in his left hand. "However…this little test of ours is over. Your team as a whole…failed my little test. Sorry brat," she said as Naruto just coming out of his tunnel-like vision noticed sunlight all around them and scowled lightly as he let his keyblade fade back into his heart.

"So…now what?"

"Now I find your teammates, and take your Hi-ate before you all go back to the Academy for at least another year. Sorry brat, you three didn't cut it, not this time," Anko said before noticing that the gaki was cocking his head in a fox-like manner indicating his curiosity.

"But didn't Sakura-chan and I pass?" He asked as Anko just started chuckling, before it turned out into full-blown laughter. Before he could get flustered from her laughter, she stopped and stared at him with a deadly look in her eye, grinning lightly as a few of her snakes carried two humans bound and gagged: Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto growled as he saw this, getting ready to attack Anko.

"This is why you and pinkette didn't pass. You three never came together as a team against me. You were more focused on obtaining these," and here she pulled one of the remaining scrolls, "instead of focusing on the true task: taking me on as a team," she said, before silently giving the order for her snakes to get ready to bite them both. "Now then, I'm going to give you one last chance. These snakes here aren't as poisonous as Black Mamba, but their poison is just as deadly, causing the body slowly to go into a paralytic state, ending with the lungs and heart. Now then…who shall I keep alive, hm? " Anko asked as she gave Naruto time to think about the decision. What happened next would surprise the Snake Jounin.

"I choose…" he paused for a few seconds before looking at the glare in Sasuke's eyes and the look of worry and fear in Sakura's eyes as well. _Kyu-sensei, remind me to go all out when pranking Hebi-sensei for this_. He thought to himself before coming to a conclusion.

"Hm?" Anko asked as she focused her attention onto Naruto.

"Myself."

* * *

Dragon and Sword Master: Sorry for taking so long to get this out. When I first started this chapter, the new show "The Cape" was coming out and I got hooked on it, and is still extremely pissed that it's gone so quickly.

Yugito: Anyways, when am I going to be introduced into the fic Dragon-kun?

Dragon and Sword Master: Soon Neko-chan, promise.

Yugito: Alright…

Dragon and Sword Master: Anyways, I'm heading into the bunker with my Neko-chan, so please leave all reviews, threats, pitchforks, etc at the steel door and I'll respond to them all…except for the weaponry.


	5. Naruto File 04

Dragon and Sword Master: *slowly exits his fort, making sure no one sees him.* A new chapter is upon us! *ducks behind the door as several amounts of weaponry is thrown at him*

Sakura: Baka.

Dragon and Sword Master: I thought they'd forgive me by now…anyways, on youtube [dot] com I have pictures of Animazement up! If you're interested, look under the name MeruWingly1. I know that it has been a while since the event has happened, but take a look at them all the same, please.

Sakura: Of course, that's after they read the chapter, right Dragon-san?

Dragon and Sword Master: *sweatdrops* of course…Also, I would like to apologize for taking so long to update this. Real life is a cruel mistress as everyone surely knows and sometimes I just didn't know where I wanted to go with this chapter. Mostly this chapter is filler, but it is important as it sets several things up to come and settling some loose ends. Leaf Ranger, hopefully these pranks against Anko are suitable punishment?

* * *

Naruto: The New Keyblade Master  
Naruto File 04: Aftermath

Naruto was currently running away from their sensei as he did yet another prank on her. Ever since the three of them passed the Genin Exam that Anko set up thanks to Naruto, the hooded boy took it upon himself to prank Anko on a daily basis. Then again, turning all of Anko's clothes feminine colors was humiliating enough for the new Jounin-sensei, seeing as she could buy a new pair of clothes. However, she found out that everything she usually wore was currently out of stock, growling as she came to the conclusion of either walking around in what she considered girly colors, or naked. While she wouldn't have minded walking around the streets of Konoha naked, she was sure that even the Hokage wouldn't let her get away with that.

**Flashback**

"_Myself," Naruto said as he saw the two snakes lower Sasuke and Sakura down to the ground. After he made sure that both of his teammates were safe, he closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable pain that would surely follow. He knew that the pain would last longer due to the healing properties that he received from the fox. However, after a few minutes passed, all he heard was clapping._

_Slowly opening his eyes, he noticed that Anko was giving him a genuine smile, glad that she would be able to teach the blonde and his teammates. She knew that the smile didn't belong on her face at all, but this was one of the few times that she seemed genuine happy. "Because of that display of selflessness, you three…pass," she said, causing all three of them to look at her as if she suddenly had a second head. "Meet me at the opening of this training ground tomorrow morning at 0800 and Team Anko will start training._

**End Flashback**

That happened a week ago and ever since then, all of Anko's clothes were dyed some stupid girly color. If it wasn't neon pink, it was yellow or lime green and to add insult to injury, each lime green outfit was spandex. She, of course, quickly burned each spandex outfit that made it into her closet, only to find out that they somehow returned when she looked the next day. She tried putting a genjutsu over the colors of the cloth so that it appeared normal, but quickly realized that that didn't work since as soon as she left her apartment, the clothes she was wearing at the time changed back to that damnable yellow color.

Naruto grinned as he looked back and saw her still chasing after him. Anyone else who was in his position would be scared shitless, but he was acting as a diversion for his clones as they were posting pictures of Anko in the girly outfits all throughout Konoha. He was glad that one of his biggest pranks to date was going off without a hitch. Making his way back to his apartment, he closed and locked it, as he sent a clone out to continue running around Konoha so that Anko wouldn't think of looking here.

"You do realize she's going to go hard on us during training, or at least you," Sakura said as he turned around. Even though she was annoyed with the blonde, she also knew that he was getting back at Anko the only way he knew how.

"I know, but Hebi-sensei should know the consequences for threatening my friends. Besides, I'm not hurting her, am I?" He asked, to which Sakura could only look at the blonde with her usual look.

"Not technically," She responded as Naruto grinned before he gasped in pain and held his left side. Sakura was quickly at his side in worry. Naruto took his hand away and noticed nothing was there, not even blood on the hand that covered the supposed wound. He also received memories from a clone that wasn't able to get away from Anko quickly enough. "Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked in a concerned manner.

"Sorry Sakura-chan," he said as he was having a mental conversation with Kyuubi after the phantom pain disappeared and filed it away for later information. He was surprised from the fact that the Kyuubi told him about the side effects of using Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Before Sakura could ask what was wrong, he started explaining.

* * *

"Damn it!" Anko shouted as another clone vanished in smoke. She was sure that the one she was following this time was the real Naruto, especially since he was the one creating the clones in the first place. She then saw another Naruto, but before she could catch up to him, he vanished. Heading to where the blonde was a few moments ago, she growled and tore the picture off the post, quickly crumbling it in her hand.

"You are so dead when I find you brat, DEAD!" She shouted, hoping that wherever Naruto was that he heard it. She then headed back towards her apartment, the only thing saving the civilians from her wrath was the fact that no one attempted to comment on the new look.

* * *

Sasuke heard the shouts from his estranged sensei and had to smirk just a little. Ever since that event in the Forest of Death, he also wanted to get back at the bitch who humiliated him in such a fashion. He gathered chakra into his lungs again before blowing out a fireball.

_Still not good enough,_ he thought to himself as he gathered chakra into his lungs once again. However, he was also thinking over the dreams that he was recently getting. Even though they were different, each time they ended with a man in a black cloak holding something out to him. It seemed like the same weapon that the dobe had, but it also looked different at the same time…and no matter what happened in the dream, he could never hear the person's name.

Before he continued with his training, he felt a presence behind him. Not knowing what it was, he quickly threw a kunai in the direction of where he thought the person was. Hearing nothing, he took another kunai out and progressed towards the area carefully.

_What the hell?_ He thought to himself as he came towards where his…observer was watching him. He noticed the solo twig broken in the surrounding, the one thing that caught the boy's attention in the first place. Other than that, the place was clean…too clean. He brought his guard up and checked the surroundings, moving his eyes left and right every few seconds. After a few seconds of peaceful silence, he slowly started heading back to his training area, his eyes always flickering back and forth to keep an eye on the trees, the healthy leaves giving ample cover for any assassin or fan girl. Once he made his way back to the area that he was training in earlier, all he noticed was a small scroll around his thrown kunai.

He carefully put the kunai back into his pouch before bringing his hand down to pick up the parchment. He then scanned the parchment as best as he could with chakra for traps, he slowly opened it and started reading.

_Sasuke,_

_Have you thought of a name yet? The time for you to break out of the darkness is slowly dwindling and soon, soon you will fall into the darkness. The rabbit hole that only a few can come out and regain the light is slowly becoming smaller…_

_You may think that you don't need your allies, your friends; that you can do it all by yourself. I was once the same way, and I paid the price for thinking as such…only being brought back to the light thanks to my friend, who I will not name for you will not be able to see it. Remember Sasuke, your friends are the way into the light. Don't squander them like I did…_

While the note was signed, just like in his dreams, he couldn't read it. Sasuke scoffed and crumbled the note up, not caring about what this person was warning him about. He needed to get stronger to reclaim the honor for his family and killing Itachi would be the only thing that caused him to gain that honor back.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a patient man, but even he had his limits. The stupidity of several council members, especially the civilian side and now that they knew both the Snake Whore of Konoha and the Fox Brat were together, they wanted their precious Uchiha away from their tainted hands.

Sarutobi rubbed his temples lightly. Of course, the hounds didn't care about the girl. The fact that she sided herself with the demon brat was enough proof to the council's petty minds that she deserved the jeers, taunts and everything else that both Anko and Naruto deserved over the years. However, ever since _that_ incident in the dango shop, the civilians toned down on the actions against her. Then again, some body parts just weren't meant to twist like that after all.

"Hokage-sama, you can't be seriously thinking of keeping Sasuke with the dem-," he said before Sarutobi glared at the man that was talking, instantly cutting him off with a small dose of killer intent.

"Finish that statement and I **will** enact my law, councilman. I have not received the results from the Jounin's initiation test and until then, my ruling stands. Anko will become sensei for Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto if they pass her test," He said forcibly, silently thinking _may Kami-sama help them if they do…_having a high feeling that she would test them within her favorite playground; Area 44, the Forest of Death.

_Ugh, that reminds me, I have to get the Jounin together and get their assessment about the promising Genin Teams. I'll have to send a hawk out later._ Sarutobi thought to himself before bringing his attention back on hand to the meeting at hand. "Is there anyone else who disagrees with my team placements?" Sarutobi asked. After a few minutes of silence, he decided to move onto a different topic. "Now then, in a few months time, we will be holding the Chunin Exam," he stated as they discussed what needed to be done to prepare for the event.

* * *

Sora grinned lightly as he watched his apprentice blossom into a young man, passing the exam and then assigned to Anko as part of a Genin Squad. Even though he couldn't teach him anything else after that event seven years ago when he first met his future apprentice, he still watched the young man from the shadows. He sometimes wished that he could go out into the light once again to help his apprentice, but the only thing that would be able to help Naruto grow was experience. If he were there to be the Hero…then Naruto would never learn.

"Sora-kun, you're brooding again…," a female's voice whispered behind him, low in volume so that only he, himself, could hear her: his Princess of Light…Kairi. Like him, time had aged her gracefully. Unfortunately, it also made her grow old, just like him. Even then, she was still beautiful in Sora's eyes, and he thanked the stars that she chose him. He shook his head lightly, turned his head to focus onto her, and grinned lightly.

"What brings you here Kairi-chan?" He asked as she smiled a soft smile. "I felt the darkness just like you and Riku did Sora-kun," Kairi replied with sadness in her voice. She was glad to see her husband, but at the same time, it would only be for a fleeting moment. "Riku is out looking for someone that holds the same unique balance of darkness and light in a heart in order for his wielder to successfully wield the powers of Twilight. He's found few, or so he said," Kairi continued. Sora looked a little surprised, but at the same time, not.

"I see...so does that mean you are also looking for an apprentice to pass on your skills as a healer and keyblade wielder, right?" Sora asked as Kairi nodded.

"I've sensed a few people that are pure of heart, but I'm not sure which one to choose. There's Hyuuga Hinata and Haruno Sakura, Sabaku no Temari and Matsuri from Sunagakure, Nii Samui and Kamui from Kumogakure, among many others that I've noticed through my travels, I need help deciding...," she said. Sora chuckled, knowing that Kairi could never come to a quick decision about things of great importance before he took on a serious look and thought for a few minutes.

"I don't know about the others in the Elemental Countries, but I know my apprentice has a strong attachment to Haruno Sakura. I think it would be better in the long run to work with the friendship that they already have built upon and go from there. Of course, this is just my opinion. You're always free to do otherwise Kairi-chan." Sora said as Kairi blushed lightly.

"Thanks. I'll keep in mind what you said and think upon it," She said before giving him a kiss on the cheek and leaving within a portal of light. Even though they were members of the Neo Organization XIII, as a princess of light she could never use the Shadow Transports as everyone else used. Her light was just too strong for the shadows to withstand.

* * *

During Anko's tirade of revenge, she heard the distinctive sound of a hawk going off in the distance. Looking up, she noticed the telltale sign of the Hokage's Hawk, signifying that the Hokage wanted a message with all of the Jounin. Glaring at a random direction, hoping that Naruto or one of his several clones were around the area, she quickly vanished in a burst of shushin, appearing at the base of the Hokage Tower. Quickly progressing up the stairs, she made her way towards the meeting hall that held the members of both councils just a few hours previously. She opened the door and headed inside, noticing that several other Jounin were there as well, including her friend Kurenai.

As she got into line next to the other Jounin, she could have sworn she heard a slight chuckle coming from her left. The only person she saw in that direction was a male who was wearing standard Jounin attire, but the two things that distinguished him from the rest of the Jounin was the fact he had a dark blue mask on the lower portion of his face and his headband covering his left eye for whatever reason. "Nice outfit there Anko-chan, lose a bet or something?" he asked, getting a growl from the snake sannin's apprentice, making a vow to get back at Kakashi later when there weren't any other witnesses around. Until then, she would deal with his teasing. Sarutobi stood there and watched the small interaction between Kakashi and Anko, having a feeling that Anko would get his payback. He then coughed, getting everyone in the room to become silent and look towards their leader.

"Report," was all that Sarutobi said, before the Jounin-sensei of Team 1 stepped up and issued a failure for his team of Genin, several other Jounin-senseis doing the same thing before it came to Asuma. Asuma stepped up and grinned lightly, knowing that with him failing his last potential teams some people had placed bets on him failing this team as well.

"Team Ten consisting of Yamanaka Ino, Naru Shikamaru and Akamichi Chouji have passed my Genin Exam, and I am proud to note that they are ready to be under your command father," Asuma stated as Sarutobi nodded, before watching his son get back in line. One of the new female Jounin then stepped up and reported her findings as well, stating that her team, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba and Abrume Shino, passed her test with flying colors and stated that it would be an honor to work with them and seeing them progress in their shinobi careers. Sarutobi nodded and grinned lightly as she stepped back into line, happy that his newest Jounin was eager to train a team of Genin, unlike some other people here standing in front of him. He then put his hand over his face as Anko sashayed out of line, just knowing that whatever she planned was not going to end well for him. He should have never paired her up with Naruto, but now it was probably too late.

"Team Anko, consisting of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto are alive and willing to participate under my loving care," she said, causing some of the gathered Jounin there to look at Anko in surprise, figuring that she would go a little too far and accidentally kill one of her potential students. Sarutobi was glad that he didn't mistake putting her trust into making Anko the Jounin-sensei for the three genin. He coughed lightly as she stepped back into line, hiding a small chuckle at the bright yellow outfit that she was currently wearing. Somehow or another, the old monkey just knew that she was another victim to Naruto, mentally debating if he should ask the young boy how he did it in case Anko got too out of hand in the future.

The next to step up was an ANBU who retired and asked to become a full time Jounin instead. Even so, he currently had no Genin team under his tutelage, always failing the prospective Genin given to him each year. Wearing nothing more than normal shinobi attire and a Jounin vest, there were only a few things that made this Jounin stand out of the crowd. Unlike the other shinobi and kunoichi around him, this man had gravity-defying silver hair, as well as a facemask covering the lower half, while his headband signifying that he was a shinobi of Konoha slung across his left eye.

"My team has failed my test Hokage-sama," Kakashi said in a monotone, just as he said each and every year around this time. Sarutobi sighed but nodded, acknowledging Kakashi's statement.

"Now that each of you have passed or failed your students, I expect many things from this year's graduating students, and I hope that everyone in this room who have passed their students today train them to become fine shinobi and kunoichi of Konohagakure. You are all dismissed," He said as everyone vanished in a plume of smoke.

* * *

_Oh come on, it was a reaction!_ Naruto stated as he was talking to his tenant/sensei about learning a new Keyblade technique, as part of the bet. He didn't realize that he used Blizzaga and yet his teacher was still calling him out on it.

**A bet is still a bet kit.**

_It was life or death! Come on Kyu-sensei…please? _He asked before he heard the giant fox sigh lightly as the boy went into his puppy dog eye look. He thought that he was immune by it though, but apparently, he wasn't. To his credit though, it did take him a while to crumble under the look.

**Alright, alright. I'll teach you one Keyblade technique that you can fuse with your spells. However, before you even think of doing that, you need to master the normal version of it first. The technique name is called Strike Raid. It's basically throwing your Keyblade at an enemy before quickly recalling it back to your hand and then throwing it again. If the memories from Sora are accurate, he could throw it at least four to five times before the technique cancelled out on him.**

_Sounds easy enough._

**Don't underestimate the technique Naruto, just because something looks simple doesn't mean it will be easy. **Kyuubi said, but Naruto just ignored him. He knew how to summon his Keyblade, and to him, that's all he needed to do: throw the keyblade and after a while, summon it back to him before repeating. As such, when he threw it, he expected it to come back in his hands…however, the loss of air after he summoned the unique weapon back to him caused him to bug out as he didn't expect the momentum to continue after he summoned the weapon back.

Kyuubi snickered at that and decided to make a comment about it. Naruto ignored it and continued training for another two hours. He hadn't mastered it yet, but at least he was able to catch the blade and not have his stomach catch the blow when he summoned it back to his hand. Sweating and slowly breathing so he would not hyperventilate, he sat down, a thought coming to his mind.

_Kyu-sensei…I have a question. Is it possible for someone to learn magic?_ Naruto asked before he was met with silence. He was about to ask the question when Kyuubi answered.

**Normal shinobi cannot learn magic and while it is similar, mana is not chakra. Keyblade Masters are different though, since the Keyblade creates a secondary source for mana, which does not interact with chakra at all; however, if someone who could not use their chakra, or learned mana before unlocking his or her chakra…," **Kyuubi said, Naruto understanding what his sensei was saying and slightly lowered his head. He wanted to teach Sakura how to use magic.

_Oh well, thanks for answering anyways_ Naruto thought to his teacher before deciding to call it a night and walked back towards his home. Luckily for him, all civilians were asleep and most of the ANBUs wouldn't dare risking their jobs to attack him so he walked leisurely through the village. However, he was no idiot, even if he acted like one, and kept his guard up before making his way home.

* * *

Sakura was rushing towards the only place that she felt safe in, especially after what happened with her mot…no, she wouldn't call that woman that word ever again. She didn't deserve it. All she had on her person was a small bag attached to her with a few feminine items, a few clothes, and her shinobi gear. Even though she promised herself that she wouldn't cry, tears still dripped from her eyes and down her face before merging with the dirt.

While she was running, Sakura wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. She was just heading towards her friend's place as quick as her legs could take her and as such, bumped into someone. Before she could fall onto the dusty street, the person she bumped into grabbed her by the arm, pulled her back up, and let her regain her balance. "Thanks…I'm sorry about running into you,"

"Don't mention it Sakura-chan," Naruto said before he took in the way she looked, quickly noticing the bag, but didn't catch the blush on Sakura's face from being so close to her male friend, or the tears streaming down her face. "Now then, why are you out here all alone, at night?" He asked, causing Sakura to blush more and mumble about how her _mother_ kicked her out of the house and disowned her.

"W-what?" Naruto asked shocked. Sakura looked down before repeating herself, making her voice a little louder for him to hear her, but she couldn't repeat it, no matter how many times she tried. Lowering her head in shame, she tried to continue on, but Naruto wouldn't have it and kept a grip on her arm, not enough to hurt her, but enough to stop her from getting away.

"Naru-kun…let go."

"No. I'm not letting you go into the night in your condition, especially since I know what the population of Konoha can do. You're my friend damnit, and I'm not letting something happen to you. They can do whatever they want to me, I don't care, but if you were hurt…" Naruto said, stopping in the middle of that sentence, not wanting to think what he would do to the population if someone hurt Sakura because of him.

**Kit, I keep telling you that**— the Kyuubi started to say before Naruto, who didn't want to deal with his sensei, cut him off. After dealing with his sensei, Naruto noticed Sakura starting to yawn, most likely due to the stress of her mother abandoning her. Making a quick decision, Naruto led her to his apartment.

"Naru-kun…you don't have to…" Sakura started to say after he opened the door to his apartment before the events of earlier caught up with her. She tried fighting it, but she quickly loss the battle with consciousness. He quickly caught her before picking her up in a bridal style, the bag holding her stuff dangle from her body before slowly falling to the ground with a light clank. Naruto moved the bag into a corner next to the door before carrying Sakura into his bedroom. Placing her down on the bed, he placed the covers over her and started to leave the room. Before he left though, he turned back towards Sakura.

"You're right, I didn't have to Sakura-chan, but…I wanted to," he said before closing the door, knowing that Sakura needed rest.

* * *

"I still can't believe you had me do that mission right after I got my team Old Man," Anko said with an annoyed voice as she gave a recount of the events that she witnessed during her recon mission.

"You wanted an assurance that you and your team wouldn't do, in your words, Chore Missions," Sarutobi replied. "Nothing in this world is for free Anko-chan, and we both know that those missions are necessary to create the teamwork necessary for the higher ranked missions. I wanted to make sure that putting my trust into you was for a good reason. The information you brought back with you was just a bonus." Anko just scowled at him as he looked at the crystal ball on his desk for a few minutes and instantly started frowning.

"Old man?" Anko asked as she moved closer to her leader and peered over his shoulder and instantly wished that she hadn't. She noticed that the image on the crystal ball held two of her three students in its gaze, and her pink-haired student looked terrible. She was just about to ask what happened to Sakura when they both heard what happened: Sakura's mother officially disowning her daughter. When Anko heard that, her eyes narrowed before seeing red. She knew exactly why the mother would do something so…she couldn't even think of a word to describe the actions. She was about ready to bolt to the woman's house and show her just why she was the apprentice of Morino Ibiki before the Hokage's voice cut through her red vision.

"Anko! Under no circumstances will you harm her," Sarutobi ordered, getting a glare from the violet-haired kunoichi in the room.

"And why the hell not old man? The only reason she threw Sakura out was her friendship with Naruto! I bet I even know what the bitch was thinking too. 'It's a phase and will grow out of it sooner or later. She'll see why Naruto is a monster and hate him like everyone else,'" She said venomously, seeing it happen so many times herself as she ranted. Sarutobi just listened to Anko rant, knowing that if she didn't, she would take it out on someone else. Once she was done, he answered.

"Are you done?" He first asked, to which Anko nodded. "Alright. Now then, think of it this way, and this is entirely hypothetical, so the order still stands, but what if I didn't give you that order? What would you do? Knowing you as well as I think I do, you would make a beeline towards Christine's house and take your time torturing her for doing what she did. I would figure that if you tortured her you would make sure that at the end she would die, by your hand. Sakura finds out that her mother has been murdered and talks to someone, most likely young Naruto. I know of the prank with the clothes he pulled on you for the stunt that you did with the poisonous snakes. That was when you threatened the girl. What would happen if he knew you were the cause of Sakura's depression?" He asked as he let Anko take in the scenario and information.

"He would do everything in his power to make my life a living hell," Anko finally said after a few moments of silence, knowing that he would do so, even if he was only a Genin now, that wouldn't mean he wouldn't stop trying, or succeed once he got older. "Gotta admit, Sakura-chan has one hell of a boyfriend," she joked, causing the Hokage to smile.

"Now then, I'll agree with your terms and not give your team any D rank missions, but remember, you must teach them the concept of teamwork and make sure that they understand it." Sarutobi ordered as Anko nodded.

"Understood." She said, knowing that the old man was being serious. If he wasn't being so serious she'd have said something along the lines of "Aye Old man," but it wasn't so she didn't.

* * *

_Sakura was heading home as she usually did after training with their new sensei. Crazy as she may be, she was still a fair teacher overall. Reaching her home, she turned the door and opened it like she always did, yelling out an "I'm home!" to her mother before she usually went upstairs. However, this time her mother called her into the living room where she was sitting._

"_Mom?" Sakura asked, not sure what was going on. Her mother narrowed her eyes at her daughter and asked her to sit down. Once Sakura did so, her mother grabbed her arm and glared at Sakura._

"_I thought…given enough time you would distance yourself from that monster. I know you don't see it, but I do. If you don't distance yourself from him…bad things are going to happen Sakura. You need to snap out of this phase you're in and end your friendship with that monster._

_Sakura glared at her mother before telling her answer with pride in her voice. "Never. I'd rather die then give my friendship with Naruto up. He isn't a monster…it's all of you!" she exclaimed, causing her mother's eyes to narrow further._

"_Then my daughter is dead."_

"_Wha-What do you mean?"_

"_Haruno Sakura is dead, that's exactly what I mean. Now get out of my sight before I call ANBU for trespassing." Sakura's mother said in a soft and controlled tone of voice, something that hurt Sakura far worse than any yelling done in the past and continued to sit there for a few seconds in shock. "Didn't you hear me? I said get out of my sight!" Her mother shouted, causing Sakura to bolt out of the room and up to her stairs where she quickly grabbed a few things and stuffed them into a bag before heading out the window, not trusting her mother to call shinobi or not for her…trespassing. At this point, tears started falling down her face as she realized just what happened._

"_I…I don't have a family anymore," she thought to herself as she tried to stop her crying but failing miserably. She then wandered around the streets of Konoha, still in shock over the events that just happened before bumping into someone. She started to apologize before the person she bumped into grabbed her wrist hard._

"_Well well well, look who we have here boys, it's the demon whore herself," the guy said, causing Sakura to pale in fright as she tried wrenching her arm out of the man's grip, but all it did was cause more bruises on her arm. "Now, now, that's no way to act demon whore…" he said as he dragged her into the alley. _

Sakura woke up in a gasp, hyperventilating slightly at the nightmare, waking up before the events of her nightmare could truly take place. _Just a nightmare… only a nightmare,_ she thought to herself as she looked around, semi-recognizing the room but at the same time, not.

She silently moved around the room and found the door, creeping it open but remaining as quiet as she could be before seeing someone on the couch, moving closer to the mysterious person she hit her shin on something. Resisting the urge to make a sound of pain, she crept closer towards the mysterious person, her eyes getting use to the amount of light in the room. She gasped in surprise as she saw Naruto lying down on the couch, fast asleep. _No way…he gave me his bed?_ Sakura thought to herself, surprised that her friend not only helped her get off the streets, but also gave her his bed for the night after she apparently fainted from the events of earlier…causing her to look down. She then made a promise to herself, vowing to tell Naruto what happened when he woke up tomorrow morning before she went back to Naruto's bed, slowly heading back to sleep.

* * *

Naruto was at the training field as he slowly calmed his breathing, not entirely sure what to do with Sakura. I mean sure she bunked there from time to time, but what Sakura was suggesting was a little more than just staying for the night or something like that. Without a home to go back to…it was either his place or the streets, and he'd be damned if he left her to fend for herself like that.

_Flashback_

_Naruto woke up slowly and stretched, before falling out of the couch in a daze. "Ow…" he muttered as the bruise he just got from falling on the hardwood floor was already healing thanks to the Kyuubi. As he woke up, he remembered exactly why he was on the sofa instead of the bed. "Sakura-chan…" He said before knocking on the door. He remembered the last time he went in unannounced…and just knew that it would never happen ever again._

"_You can come in," Sakura shouted through the door as Naruto opened it, instantly noticing the dried tearstains on her face. He then asked what had happened, not believing what he heard from her last night, knowing that she was in an emotional wreck at the time. "My mother disowned me…she k-kicked me out," she started saying, stuttering only once as the full implications started sinking in. She had nowhere to go…which causes silent tears to fall again for a few seconds before noticing them and brushing them off with the back of her hand._

"_Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked concerned, not entirely sure what he was about to get himself into. He was definitely surprised when Sakura asked if she could stay here for at least a couple of days._

"_I…I'm gonna have to think on it Saku-chan," he said before pulling a Shadow Transport up and heading into it, letting it take him to the entrance of training ground 44. _

_End Flashback_

Naruto's mind was in turmoil. He knew the answer that he was going to give her, but it would be hard for the both of them at first, especially him since it was his apartment…and she would be moving in…at those thoughts, his cheeks reddened deeply. It would definitely be awkward…and what if they fought with each other while in his home? It would screw up the teamwork that they had together on a mission or something. He shook his head. He was starting to over think things and that wasn't him. He either did or did not, damning the consequences either way.

* * *

Dragon and Sword Master: Once again, I apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I would rather not go into the specifics but it deals with my real life. However, I do have something interesting to tell people. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been talking with fellow author and reader, Zeromaru Chaos Mode, about a new story. In fact, it would be the first of its kind.

It will be a while until the story is published, but the story is going to be a Naruto/Nights into Dreams story. That's right: Naruto/Nights into Dreams. Below is just a small taste of what may be within the story.

Naruto stood in front of a jester that seemed to be on a deck of cards, wearing red and black with a golden facemask covering the creature's eyes. The jester stood there looking across seeing the blonde warrior staring back at him with crystal blue eyes that were full of determination. The jester scowled, detesting that look and quickly gathered dream energy around his hands before dashing towards his blue-eye opponent.

Within just one second, the one warrior split into five before the five split again into ten. Each warrior grabbed dream energy that he collected from the defeated third level Nightmarens from each of the "stages" as Kyuubi described them.

"So you finally understand the true power of this world…don't you, Naruto?" The jester asked snidely as each Naruto formed a smirk as his response. Several small spheres of fire and wind appeared around the jester as Naruto continued to smirk.

"You don't know the half of it…Reala," Naruto exclaimed as all the compacted spheres headed towards the jester-themed warrior.


	6. Important News, please read

I know I have been inactive on the site for a while, but I have continued to write. However, that isn't important. Not now. Right now, this notice is of the importance that is SOPA. The Obama Administration is trying to add SOPA, or at least parts of SOPA, into law. What does that mean? It means that anything deemed "Copyrighted" is now associated with extreme jail time and being branded a felon for breaking this law. A FELON. For uploading a lyric video, for uploading a video game play through or someone doing karaoke…what's even worse you ask?

The government is trying to do this UNDER THE RADAR OF EVERYONE. That's right people, they're trying to add this bill silently. If we don't fight this off like we did in 2012, then it's gonna happen all over again: They're going to take over our rights; our rights that are supposed to be protected by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution…Apparently not anymore. This is just the first stone. If this passes…just think how quickly the first stone will cascade to an avalanche that we can do nothing about. Fanon will be a thing of the past people…

Don't believe me? I can completely understand. I was a skeptic myself, but these links below are true and made me see the light myself. Let's rally up once again to destroy this bill HOPEFULLY FOR THE LAST TIME! Remember to take out the spaces and replace "dot" with a "." We need to stand up for our freedoms once again. One more time…let's take this bill and kill it dead.

-Dragon and Sword Master as of 8/24/2013

www dot washingtonpost dot com / blogs / the-switch / wp / 2013 / 08 / 05 / sopa-died-in-2012-but-obama-administration-wants-t o-revive-part-of-it/

www dot dailybinarynews dot com / sopa-died-in-2012-but-obama-administration-wants-t o-revive-part-of-it/

www dot youtube watch?v=1fTt4K4Cae4


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